Billing

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the average time taken by his Department to settle invoices to external suppliers or contractors was in each of the last three financial years.

Stephen Crabb: The Wales Office policy is to pay suppliers in accordance with the prime ministerial commitment of May 2010 that Government Departments should pay suppliers within five days of receipt of a valid invoice at the correct billing address. The percentage of invoices paid within these terms for the last three financial years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Percentage invoices paid within five days 
			 2011-12 92 
			 2010-11 92 
			 2009-10 95

Offences against Children

Ann Coffey: To ask the Attorney-General how many prosecutions were brought under section 58 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 for internal trafficking of children in each year since its introduction.

Oliver Heald: The numbers of offences charged under section 58 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 since its introduction is as follows:
	
		
			  Number of offences charged 
			 2004-05 4 
			 2005-06 8 
			 2006-07 31 
			 2007-08 42 
			 2008-09 65 
			 2009-10 37 
			 2010-11 55 
			 2011-12 61 
			 2012-13 16 
		
	
	It should be noted that these figures show the number of offences in which a prosecution commenced and reached a first hearing in the magistrates courts. They relate to the number of offences and not the number of individual defendants as an individual defendant may be charged with more than one offence. Data on offences is not held by victim, defendant or outcome, and consequently it is not possible to provide figures for offences that specifically involve the trafficking of children within England and Wales.

Unsolicited Goods and Services

David Mowat: To ask the Attorney-General 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to increase the number of successful prosecutions of individuals or companies involved in cold-calling regarding accident claims;
	(2)  how many motor insurance companies have been successfully prosecuted for the selling of personal information in each of the last five years.

Helen Grant: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
	The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) are the most relevant pieces of legislation in relation to unsolicited calls and texts, and are administered and enforced by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
	Cold calling is not in itself illegal. It only becomes a breach of PECR if the call is made to someone who has signed up to the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and who has not otherwise given their consent to the call. This is not a criminal offence and hence would not lead to a prosecution. However, under PECR the ICO has powers to serve a Civil Monetary Penalty Notice (CMP) up to £500,000 against those who breach the DPA or PECR.
	The ICO is actively pursuing the problem of unsolicited marketing text messages and phone calls. To date, the ICO has issued two notices of intent (the precursor to a monetary penalty) in relation to unsolicited texts, and is pursuing other lines of inquiry.
	The selling of personal information by motor insurance companies may breach the DPA, but is unlikely be a criminal offence as the companies are classified as the data controller and the offence, under section 55 of the DPA, relates to the knowing or reckless obtaining, disclosing or procuring of the disclosure of personal data without the consent of the data controller. There have therefore been no such prosecutions by the ICO in the past five years.

Blue Badge Scheme

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 2 October 2012, Official Report, column 652W, on the blue badge scheme, how many letters he has received from hon. Members on individual cases related to the renewal of blue badges for each local authority for which such an application relates, since 1 January 2012.

Norman Baker: The total number of ministerial letters related to renewals of Blue Badges received since 1 January 2012 is 52. The following table provides a breakdown of this information. We do not hold full information relating to the name of the local authority for each individual case. The name of the parliamentary constituency has therefore been included for all cases.
	
		
			 Local authority Constituency Number of letters 
			 Basildon Council Basildon and Billericay, Essex 2 
			 Bedford Borough Council North East Bedfordshire 1 
			 Blackpool Council Buckingham, Buckinghamshire 1 
			 Bristol City Council Bristol East 1 
			 Buckinghamshire County Council Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire 2 
			 Cornwall Council North Cornwall 1 
			 Devon County Council South West Devon 1 
			 Dorset County Council North Dorset 1 
			 East Sussex County Council Bexhill and Battle, East Sussex 1 
			 Kent County Council Gravesham, Kent 2 
			 Leicestershire County Council Charnwood, Leicestershire 1 
			 London Borough of Hounslow Brentford and Isleworth, Greater London 1 
			 Norfolk County Council North West Norfolk 1 
			 Plymouth City Council Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, Devon 1 
			 Portsmouth City Council Portsmouth North, Hampshire 1 
			 South Ayrshire Central Ayrshire 1 
		
	
	
		
			 Southampton City Council Romsey and Southampton North, Hampshire 1 
			 Surrey County Council Esher and Walton, Surrey 1 
			 West Sussex County Council Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, West Sussex 1 
			 Wokingham Borough Council Bracknell 1 
			 — Ashford, Kent 1 
			 — Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland 2 
			 — Bolton North East 1 
			 — Brighton, Kemptown in East Sussex 1 
			 — Bury South, Greater Manchester 1 
			 — Cheadle, Greater Manchester 1 
			 — Chesham and Amersham, Buckinghamshire 2 
			 — City of Chester, Cheshire 1 
			 — Dudley North, West Midlands 1 
			 — Eddisbury, Cheshire 1 
			 — Eltham, Greater London 1 
			 — Gedling, Nottinghamshire 1 
			 — Halesowen and Rowley Regis, West Midlands 1 
			 — Harborough, Leicestershire 1 
			 — Hastings and Rye, East Sussex 1 
			 — Jarrow, Tyne and Wear 1 
			 — Kenilworth and Southam, Warwickshire 1 
			 — Leicester West 1 
			 — Manchester Withington 1 
			 — Rayleigh and Wickford, Essex 2 
			 — Richmond Park, Greater London 1 
			 — South Ribble, Lancashire 1 
			 — Suffolk Coastal 1 
			 — Weaver Vale, Cheshire 1 
			 — Welwyn Hatfield, Hertfordshire 1 
			 — Westmorland and Lonsdale, Cumbria 1 
			  Total 52

Driving under Influence: Drugs

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential effect of his Department's proposed drug driving legislation on the quality of life of patients taking long-term prescription medication to manage chronic pain; what discussions he has had with (a) other Government departments and (b) external stakeholders on this matter; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: Studies show that drivers who are under the influence of drugs are more likely to have an accident. Under section 4 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is already an offence to drive while unfit through drink or drugs, irrespective of whether the drug consumed was illicit or prescription medication. There is no defence available for the section 4 offence.
	Clause 27 of the Crime and Courts Bill creates a new offence of driving with a specified controlled drug in the body in excess of the specified limit for that drug. This is required in order to make it easier for the police to take action against drug driving. The clause includes a defence which is available where a specified controlled drug is prescribed or supplied (in accordance with the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971) and taken in line with medical advice.
	The following additional safeguards are also in place:
	Police cannot test drivers for drugs at random.
	Roadside drug screeners will be rigorously tested during type approval to ensure reliability of results.
	The expert panel which is advising on specified limits will take account of normal therapeutic ranges and expected drug concentrations in blood when recommending limits for those drugs that may also be used for medicinal purposes.
	The prosecution for a case where the medical defence was raised would need to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defence could not be relied on.
	The Code for Crown Prosecutors states that prosecutors:
	“should swiftly stop cases...where the public interest clearly does not require a prosecution”.
	Controlled drugs with medical uses are not excluded from the scope of the new offence because some drugs which have medical uses can significantly impair driving, and there is evidence that such drugs are widely misused. While it is important to consider carefully the quality of life of those who are legitimately taking long term pain medication, to protect other people's lives it is also necessary to ensure that effective action can be taken against any drivers who are impaired by drugs.
	In developing the new offence, officials at the Department for Transport meet regularly with the Department of Health, the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Members of the expert panel on drug driving include representatives of the Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs and the Commission on Human Medicines.
	Department for Transport officials and the expert panel have already had some discussions with interested stakeholders. Officials and the expert panel will continue to work with stakeholders informally and through the formal consultation process and will work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, regulators, pharmacists and clinicians to clarify the information given to patients about driving while taking prescription medication.
	Furthermore, the secondary legislation setting out the specific limits for specific controlled drugs will be subject to public consultation and must be approved by both Houses under the affirmative resolution procedure.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his latest estimate is for the cost of the proposed HS2 spur to Heathrow.

Simon Burns: Work undertaken by HS2 Ltd indicates a base construction cost of £1.8 billion to £1.9 billion. The Government has not yet published the output of HS2 Ltd's most recent work and any associated revised costings. However, it is unlikely that the cost quoted above will be altered significantly.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what allowance was made in HS2's demand forecasts for abstraction of passengers from HS2 services by franchised and open access operators making use of spare capacity on the existing network once HS2 is in operation.

Simon Burns: HS2 Ltd's analysis of the economic case for HS2 is based on an illustrative service specification that takes account of expected changes in demand across both the new and existing networks. This analysis assumes that a significant proportion of long-distance inter-city demand will move from the existing railway onto the new HS2 lines, creating capacity on the classic network for additional commuter, regional and freight services. However, it would clearly be inappropriate in 2012 to take specific decisions on what the timetable of the rail network should look like in the 2030s.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what alternatives to the proposed Western Connection to Heathrow Airport were examined by his Department in advance of the commitment to allocate £500 million to that project;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the cost of the proposed Western Connection to Heathrow Airport; and what assessment he has made of the likely availability of private funding to cover project costs in excess of £500 million.

Simon Burns: Detailed consideration of a western heavy rail connection to Heathrow Airport was recommended by the rail industry in its 2011 Initial Industry Plan. The High Level Output Specification for rail published in July 2012 asks the rail industry to develop, and subject to a satisfactory business case and agreement with the Heathrow aviation industry, commence construction of such a link in the 2014-19 period. The cost of the link and availability of private funding will be considered in detail as the rail industry develops the proposal.

High Speed Two

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what meetings took place (a) between his Department and (b) High Speed 2 Limited personnel and staff of the Office of the Rail Regulator in the last two years; and what subjects were discussed at each of those meetings.

Simon Burns: Ministers and officials met their ORR counterparts on a regular basis over the last two years to discuss a wide range of issues. There have been no meetings between HS2 Ltd officials and ORR in the last two years.

Shipping

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether a ship sailing on routes between UK ports and (a) the Channel Islands and (b) France is classified by his Department as working (i) wholly or (ii) largely within UK territorial waters.

Stephen Hammond: It is not possible for a ship to travel from a UK port to either the Channel Islands or France while wholly within the UK territorial sea. The proportion of its voyage which was conducted in the UK territorial sea would vary substantially dependent on the route taken.

Shipping: Fuels

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he will take to minimise the effect on seafarers' jobs of the introduction of the 0.1% sulphur content in fuels used by the shipping industry in the Emission Control Area covering UK waters from 1 January 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: Pollutant emissions from ships are regulated by Annex VI to the MARPOL Convention. The UK supports the limits in Annex VI which are designed to improve air quality, resulting in consequential benefits for public health and for the environment. Emissions from land-based sources are already tightly controlled. Road transport fuel, for example, is subject to a stricter sulphur limit of 0.001%—a hundred times less sulphur than the limit for the Emission Control Areas (ECA).
	During recent European negotiations, the Department was successful in curbing any gold-plating of the international standard in the new European directive for vessels operating in an ECA to a minimum. We also ensured that the exceptions and exemptions in Annex VI were replicated in the text of the new directive.
	The Government are working with industry stakeholders to identify the potential effects of introducing low sulphur fuels. The Government held a round table discussion on 22 October with a range of industry stakeholders about the cost-effective technical means of meeting the new requirements. The Government concluded that further work to assess the cost of the new sulphur limit on ships operating in ECAs is needed and further engagement between shipowners, equipment manufacturers and regulatory authorities on exhaust gas cleaning systems would be beneficial. The Department will work with other Government Departments, industry stakeholders and other regulatory bodies to achieve this.

Shipping: Safety

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether ships flying a flag of convenience that are sailing on routes between UK ports and (a) the Channel Islands and (b) France are subject to the maritime safety framework enforced by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Stephen Hammond: UK merchant shipping regulations, which implement international conventions, apply to all ships operating in UK waters, including those travelling either to the Channel Islands or France, regardless of their flag. In addition, any foreign registered ships entering UK ports or waters are subject to unannounced inspection visits by Maritime and Coastguard Agency surveyors to provide assurance that standards of safety, pollution prevention and conditions for seafarers meet international standards. In the case of roll-on/roll-off passenger ships we also operate joint inspection programmes with our European counterparts.

West Coast Railway Line

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether Directly Operated Railways would be able to take over the operation of the West Coast Main Line in the event that it is not possible to reach an agreement with another operator.

Simon Burns: Following the Secretary of State for Transport's announcement on 15 October 2012, Official Report, columns 46-47, Directly Operated Railways have stepped back from full contingency planning. However, they continue to remain on standby to assist the Secretary of state should this be necessary under his duties under s30 of the Railways Act 1993.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department had discussions with the EU on his decision to (a) discuss with Virgin its operating the West Coast Mainline on a temporary basis and (b) to invite bids for an interim franchise.

Simon Burns: The Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Mr McLoughlin) carried out his duties and obligations within the Railways Act 1993 and within domestic and European procurement law.
	The UK Government does not normally comment on its dealings with the European Commission or other European institutions. Any such discussions or dealings, whenever they do take place, are confidential.

West Coast Railway Line: Franchises

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what external consultants have been used by his Department to advise the Department on the West Coast Mainline franchise since 2010; and what fees have been paid to those consultants to date.

Simon Burns: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave to the hon. Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle) on 19 October 2012, Official Report, column 532.

British Council

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many complaints of child abuse involving British Council (a) employees, (b) temporary staff and (c) contractors were (i) received by his Department and (ii) investigated in each year since 1982.

Hugo Swire: As a charity and executive non-departmental public body, the British Council is responsible itself for ensuring it has robust policies in place for addressing allegations of child abuse. As a consequence, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not record allegations of child abuse involving British Council staff. The British Council has, however, provided the following information:
	Since the establishment of its specialist child protection team in January 2010, the British Council has received and investigated three allegations of child abuse. All three involved employees. Two of the cases were unsubstantiated. The third case resulted in the staff member being dismissed and referred to the Independent Safeguarding Authority.
	Prior to 2010, allegations of child abuse were dealt with in country by Country Directors, in line with corporate policies and child protection legislation and with the support of and guidance of the British Council's headquarters. In addition, British Council employees had a duty to report concerns through a corporate whistleblowing/speaking-up policy. A check of centrally-held records identifies two additional cases against employees for the time period in question, which, while not specifically complaints, were causes for concern and dismissal.
	The British Council always stands ready to investigate any allegations including historical ones, in the event of any new concerns or information coming to light. The British Council has a zero tolerance approach to child abuse and robust vetting procedures in place for all employees, temporary staff and contractors whose jobs involve working with children, both in the UK and overseas. Its child protection policy places a duty on all staff to report any allegation of child abuse or expressions of concern. This duty is articulated in policy and procedures and reinforced in staff induction and mandatory child protection awareness training. All British Council employees, temporary staff and contractors are required to adhere to this policy. A copy of the British Council's child protection policy has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in his Department have worked full-time on environmental issues in the UK Overseas Territories in each of the last five years.

Mark Simmonds: In each of the past five years the Department has had one full time staff member dedicated to environmental issues in the UK Overseas Territories. This staff member is supported in the Territories by a network of Staff Officers who are based in Governors Offices.
	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of Energy and Climate Change and Department for International Development also have UK-based staff who work directly on UK Overseas Territories environment and climate change issues. The White Paper committed each Department to lead in their respective areas of responsibility.

British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the economic risks posed to the UK by environmental degradation and climate change in the UK Overseas Territories.

Mark Simmonds: The Department contributed to the Foresight report, on the International Dimensions of Climate Change which was published in 2011. The report provides an overview of the evidence of threats and opportunities to the UK from international climate change and includes a section on the Overseas Territories. The report is available from:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/foresight/docs/international-dimensions/11-1042-international-dimensions-of-climate-change.pdf

British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the future of the Overseas Territories Environment Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: In the White Paper on the Overseas Territories the Government committed to delivering co-ordinated support on Overseas Territory natural environment issues, and to developing with the Territories a more strategic approach to managing their rich environmental assets.
	In response to these commitments, on 17 October, the Minister for the Environment launched the new ‘Darwin Plus' Fund, see following link:
	http://darwin.defra.gov.uk/news/2012-10/darwin-plus/
	For the current round of funding approximately £2 million is available.
	In addition to the new Fund and in line with the more strategic approach, the Department is also rolling out its stakeholder-led Environmental Mainstreaming initiative. The initiative (which builds on existing structures such as the Environment Charters) has already been successfully deployed in the British Virgin Islands and in the Falkland Islands.

Burma

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the treatment of the Rohingya peoples in Burma.

Hugo Swire: I have received disturbing reports of further outbreaks of clashes in Rakhine State in western Burma between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims.
	The latest outbreaks of inter-communal violence in Rakhine State seem to be the most serious since the initial violence in June and, according to reports, have left several thousand people homeless and resulted in an unverified number of casualties.
	I issued a statement on 24 October which called for an immediate end to the violence. I further urged the Government to take all necessary action to protect civilians, and to grant full humanitarian access to the areas affected as soon as possible. In a subsequent statement of 28 October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), again called on all parties to cease the violence arid for the Burmese authorities to take all necessary measures to guarantee security in the region.

Cayman Islands

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has had any discussions with the Government of the Cayman Islands on the Cayman Turtle Farm since 2007.

Mark Simmonds: Responsibility for the Cayman Turtle Farm rests with the Cayman Islands Government. According to our records, we have not had formal discussions with the Cayman Islands Government about the Turtle Farm during the period referenced.
	We are aware that the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) has conducted an investigation into the Turtle Farm, and that it has recently made its findings public. The British Government place great importance on conserving the biodiversity of the Overseas Territories and takes seriously reports of animal cruelty throughout the world. We therefore welcome the work that non-governmental organisations such as WSPA undertake in support of international animal welfare issues.
	We understand the farm has carried out a review of its operations and found no basis for WSPA's allegations. The farm itself has ordered that an independent assessment take place in December. We encourage WSPA, the management of the farm and the Cayman Islands Government to continue to engage constructively.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his Rwandan counterpart on the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mark Simmonds: The situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and-the reports of Rwandan support for the M23 rebels remain matters of serious concern for the UK. We continue to raise our concerns with the Rwandan Government at the highest level. I did so when I met the Foreign Minister. Louise Mushikiwabo, at the United Nations General Assembly on 26 September. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), also did so when he spoke to Ms Mushikiwabo on 29 September. Our high commissioner in Kigali continues to raise the UK's concerns about the conflict with a range of senior Rwandan Government figures.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his American counterpart on the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mark Simmonds: I discussed the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo with US Assistant Secretary Carson in the margin of the UN General Assembly at the end of September. In addition, senior Foreign Office officials and our Posts in Kinshasa, Washington and UKMIS New York are in regular contact with their US colleagues in order to exchange information and co-ordinate our efforts on resolving the current crisis.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on recent attacks on civilians committed by the M23 movement in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: There has been a lull in fighting since August but we continue to receive reports from the UN and non-governmental organisations on the ground that M23 has attacked civilians. It is clearly unacceptable that the ordinary people of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo who have already suffered so much, should have to experience yet more threats to their safety.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on recent civil unrest in the town of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: We are deeply concerned by reports of civil unrest and attacks on civilians in Goma, particularly given its importance as a key town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The problems peaked in late September. Since then the DRC army and police and MONUSCO have stepped up patrols. We will continue to monitor the situation.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings he has held with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo concerning human rights abuses in the east of that country; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: I am concerned about cases in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and am quite clear that they must stop, and that perpetrators must be brought to justice. We want to work for a long-term resolution to the insecurity in the eastern DRC as a key step towards addressing human rights abuses there. I set out my position clearly at the High Level Meeting on DRC at UNGA on 27 September, and in a meeting with Foreign Minister Tshibanda on 26 September in New York. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), met the DRC Foreign Minister in London on 4 September. Our embassy in Kinshasa has regular meetings and discussions with the DRC Government.
	As part of our efforts to tackle the causes of human rights abuses, the Foreign Secretary has recently launched an initiative on the prevention of sexual violence in conflict. The initiative will support the UN and civil society, and will help other countries develop their capabilities to prevent and investigate these terrible crimes. The UK will use our presidency of the G8 to secure commitments from others to tackling this issue.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Rwanda concerning the operation of Rwandan armed and irregular forces in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mark Simmonds: The situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the reports of Rwandan support for the M23 rebels remain matters of serious concern for the UK. We continue to raise these concerns with the Rwandan Government at the highest level. I did so when I met the Foreign Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo. at the United Nations General Assembly on 26 September. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), also did so when he spoke to Ms Mushikiwabo on 29 September. Our high commissioner in Kigali continues to raise the UK's concerns about the conflict with a range of senior Rwandan Government figures.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Uganda concerning its relations with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and military activity around the DRC-Uganda border.

Mark Simmonds: Britain is working with regional and international partners to break the cycle of violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. We recognise Uganda's leadership of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) in seeking a resolution. We also support UN efforts to investigate allegations of outside interference and support for the M23 militia. I raised these points with the Ugandan Foreign and Defence Ministers on 26 September in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.

EU Budget

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with his German counterpart on negotiations on the EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-20.

David Lidington: 1 visited Berlin on 16-17 October and held constructive discussions on the Multiannual Financial Framework with Foreign Ministry Minister of State Link, and with senior members of the Chancellery and Finance Ministry. I set out the UK's position, that the next Multiannual Financial Framework must see a real freeze in payments. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), likewise met recently with Foreign Minister Westerwelle, on 23 October. I look forward to further discussions in due course, and to reaching an agreement soon on the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

Henderson Island

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent progress has been made with the Henderson Island rat eradication programme.

Mark Simmonds: A team from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds visited Henderson Island in May and confirmed that a population of rats unfortunately persist on the island following last year's eradication exercise. A thorough review of the project is ongoing with the report due soon but there are a number of factors which can affect the success of an operation and unfortunately no island eradication operation can be guaranteed to succeed. The UK Government will continue working with the Territory and partner organisations to protect the environment and biodiversity of these internationally important islands.

Horn of Africa

Stephen Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to work with multilateral organisations to combat terrorism and violent extremism in the Horn of Africa.

Alistair Burt: The UK is committed to working with a range of multilateral organisations in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism in the Horn of Africa. In particular, the UK has worked closely with the EU and member states to develop a comprehensive EU Horn of Africa Security Strategy, which aims to strengthen respect for the rule of law and human rights in work to counter terrorism in the region, and to support capacity building work with law enforcement agencies, on counter terrorist financing and on counter radicalisation. The UK also supports work by the Global Counter Terrorism Forum, specifically through the Horn of Africa Working Group (which is co-Chaired by the EU and Turkey). More widely, through its chairmanship of the London Conference on Somalia in February this year, the UK has played a leading role in placing the fight against terrorism and violent extremism in the Horn of Africa at the heart of the international agenda.

Ilois: Resettlement

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps his Department has taken to facilitate the return of former Chagos Islanders to the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Mark Simmonds: No steps have been taken to facilitate the permanent return of Chagossians. The British Government believes the arguments against resettlement, including in relation to feasibility and defence security, are clear and compelling.
	We continue to organise visits by Chagossians to the British Indian Ocean Territory. 18 will visit from 30 October to 7 November this year. Chagossians arc also taking part in scientific and environmental visits.

Iraq

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made on the effect of the decision to close the British consulate in Basra on the UK's commercial interests in the region.

Alistair Burt: The British Government have reviewed our network in Iraq and believe that the changes announced by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) and set out in the written ministerial statement, 16 October 2012, Official Report, columns 17-19WS, are the best way to support British commercial interests in Basra and Southern Iraq.

Middle East

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in the Sinai Peninsula.

Alistair Burt: We are concerned about the security situation in the Sinai. The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) have discussed this with President Mursi. We welcome his commitment to address the situation by asserting greater control over the peninsula, and we have offered the UK's support to examine how the underlying causes of instability might be tackled.
	I issued a statement on 7 August condemning attacks at the Rafah border on 5 August, welcoming President Mursi's commitment to addressing security in the Sinai, and urging Egypt and Israel to work together to find solutions to the threats that affect them both.

Piracy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to reduce the levels of maritime piracy of the coast of Eritrea;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to reduce the levels of maritime piracy of the coast of Yemen.

Alistair Burt: Piracy is an affront to the rule of international law. Britain and regional partners are committed to breaking the piracy business cycle arid we speak regularly with our international partners about this.
	Piracy off the coast of both Yemen and Eritrea originates in Somalia. The Government continues to provide support to the multi-national naval operations off the coast of Somalia, for example the Operational Commander and Headquarters for the EU’s counter-piracy operation; and an asset to the Combined Maritime Forces throughout 2012, for counter-piracy tasking as part of the force's wider operation.
	These measures are having an impact. Piracy attacks are down by 65% over the last 12 months and whereas there were 47 hijackings in 2010, there have only been five so far this year.
	The Government also continues to support regional maritime capacity building projects in Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa.
	For a more detailed response on all that the UK. is doing to reduce the levels of maritime piracy off the Somali coast, I refer my hon. Friend to our response to the Foreign Affairs Committee report into piracy off the coast of Somalia, published on 19 March 2012.

Piracy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to reduce the levels of maritime piracy off the Somali coast.

Alistair Burt: Piracy is an affront to the rule of international law. Britain and regional partners are committed to breaking the piracy business cycle and we speak regularly with our international partners about this.
	The Government continues to provide support to the multi-national naval operations off the coast of Somalia, for example the Operational Commander and Headquarters for the EU's counter-piracy operation; and an asset to the Combined Maritime Forces throughout 2012, for counter-piracy tasking as part of the force's wider operation.
	These measures are having an impact. Piracy attacks are down by 65% over the last 12 months and whereas there were 47 hijackings in 2010, there have only been five so far this year.
	The Government also continues to support regional maritime capacity building projects in Somalia and the wider Horn of Africa.
	For a more detailed response on all that the UK is doing to reduce the levels of maritime piracy off the Somali coast I refer my hon. Friend to our response lo the Foreign Affairs Committee report into piracy off the coast of Somalia, published on 19 March 2012.

Pitcairn Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to promote sustainable tourism in Pitcairn Island.

Mark Simmonds: The British Government is working with the Pitcairn authorities to increase tourism by funding the Pitcairn Tourism Co-ordinator position, and the work that she is doing to promote the island to visitors. The Governor hosts Pitcairn promotional events in New Zealand (and more recently in the Cook Islands) and UK Government funding also provides the regular shipping service to the island which is used by visitors. In addition, work is progressing on a project to provide an alternate harbour to make the landing of tourists (particularly from cruise ships), as well as islanders and supplies, easier and safer. All Pitcairn tourism related work is based on the principle of sustainability.

Rwanda

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the UK's relationship with Rwanda; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: The Prime Minister gave an assessment of the UK's relationship on 17 October during Prime Minister's questions when he said:
	“Rwanda has been, and continues to be. a success story of a country that has gone from genocide and disaster to being a role model for development and lifting people out of poverty in Africa. I am proud of the fact that the last Government, and this Government, have continued to invest in that success. But I am equally clear that we should be very frank and firm with President Kagame and the Rwandan regime that we do not accept that they should be supporting militias in the Congo or elsewhere. I have raised that issue personally with the President, but I continue to believe that investing in Rwanda's success, as one of those countries in Africa that is showing that the cycle of poverty can be broken and that conditions for its people can be improved, is something we are right to do”.

Somaliland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials from his Department are currently stationed in Somaliland.

Mark Simmonds: UK officials visit and stay at the office in Hargeisa for short periods in order to meet officials and business people as well as to implement our objectives in Somaliland. Additionally we have two locally engaged staff permanently based at the office who work on projects and political work.

Somaliland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the UK's relationship with Somaliland; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: The UK places great value in its relationship with Somaliland. We are able to co-operate on many issues including governance and piracy. The UK Government has committed up to £95 million in development assistance to Somaliland over the next four years. With our office in Hargeisa now open, we look forward to building on this support. Somaliland has made admirable progress in building relative stability in a troubled region—we believe Somaliland can play an important role in enhancing security, prosperity and development in the Horn of Africa.

South Sudan

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his answer of 7 September 2012, Official Report, column 471W, on South Sudan, on the oil pipeline project in South Sudan, what support the Government is offering to the South Sudan government to establish an independent pipeline to Port Lamu.

Mark Simmonds: We have offered no assistance to the Government of South Sudan in relation to a pipeline to Port Lamu. but have advised them to seek expert advice in evaluating the case for such a project.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his policy is on the upcoming national elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: Since the UK Government's announcement on 12 June that elections will be held on 9 November, we have actively supported the interim government in the Turks and Caicos Islands, led by the Governor, to prepare for elections which are free and fair and which are held to the highest possible international standards.
	The UK Government has funded a number of projects to support this and will fund an election observer mission arranged by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (UK), which includes the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Thomas Docherty), my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), an MP from Gibraltar and five observers from the Caribbean region. I gave details of other projects in my answer of 19 October 2012, Official Report, column 558W.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the economic situation in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Mark Simmonds: In a statement on 12 September, the Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands gave an upbeat assessment of the economy of the Turks and Caicos Islands, demonstrated for example by the GDP expansion of 4.1% in 2011, the improved fiscal position and show that the economy will also grow this year.
	A new Turks and Caicos Islands Investment Policy has now launched, designed to underpin this growth and keep the Turks and Caicos Islands on a sustainable path into the future.
	On 15 October, the Turks and Caicos Islands Government announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the developers of a new US$70 million hotel, casino and marina complex. Further announcements on other development opportunities are also expected shortly. We believe that the interim government has thus put the Turks and Caicos Islands on the right path to economic growth in advance of elections on 9 November.

World War II: Military Decorations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will consider waiving the usual five year criterion to allow veterans of the Second World War to receive the Ushakov Medal commemorating their contribution to the war effort through participation in Arctic Convoy missions.

Mark Simmonds: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) cannot waive the five year rule in this or any other case. Only the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) who advise HM the Queen in all matters relating to honours and awards can put forward an exception to these rules.
	We very much appreciate the Russian Government's wish to recognise the brave and valuable service of the Arctic Convoy veterans. In light of this, in 1994 an exception to the five year rule was made to allow Arctic Convoy veterans to receive the Russian 40th Anniversary of Victory Medal. When this exception was made, it was intended, and announced, that no further exceptions would be made. Therefore, there are no plans to seek an additional exception to the rules to give permission for the Ushakov medal to be accepted for the same service.

Zimbabwe

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will hold discussions with the Zimbabwean authorities regarding cases of land belonging to white farmers being seized without compensation payment awards being made.

Mark Simmonds: I strongly condemn illegal farm and property seizures in Zimbabwe which contravene the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ruling of November 2008 as well as the terms of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and demonstrate a lack of respect for the rule of law. The British embassy in Harare is in regular contact with farming organisations in Zimbabwe. The embassy as well as affected British nationals continue to bring such issues to the attention of the Zimbabwean Government.

Afghanistan

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which armoured vehicles are currently (a) deployed and (b) available to service personnel in Afghanistan.

Andrew Murrison: The following table lists the types of armoured vehicles (those which have armoured troop carrying capacity as one of their primary roles), currently deployed in Afghanistan, all of which are available to service personnel dependent on their role and requirements.
	Type of vehicle
	Warrior
	Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked)
	Warthog
	Mastiff
	Ridgback
	Jackal
	Coyote
	Husky
	Foxhound
	Civilian Armoured Vehicles
	Wolfhound
	Buffalo

Afghanistan

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many Foxhound vehicles are currently awaiting repair in Afghanistan;
	(2)  how many Foxhound vehicles operated by the armed forces have been (a) based and (b) available for operations in Afghanistan in each month of 2012 to date.

Andrew Murrison: We do not comment on the number of vehicles deployed or available for operations in Afghanistan. I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.

Libya

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 615W, on Libya: military intervention, how many of the Dual Mode Seeker Brimstone missiles fired during Operation Ellamy were deployed from Tornado aircraft.

Andrew Murrison: During Operation Ellamy last year, UK forces employed around 230 Dual Mode Seeker Brimstone missiles. All of these were employed from Tornado aircraft.

Libya

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 615W, on Libya: military intervention, what the average cost was of a return sortie from RAF Marham to Libyan airspace; and which aircraft provided the mid-air refuelling.

Andrew Murrison: The cost of an average seven and half hour Tornado sortie from RAF Marham to Libya was approximately £37,000. This figure is calculated using standard marginal flying hour costs and rounded to the nearest thousand.
	The types of air-to-air refuelling aircraft that supported sorties from RAF Marham varied for each individual mission, but were made up of a mixture of TriStar and VC10 aircraft either operating from RAF Brize Norton or deployed at Trapani, Italy.

Military Exercises

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of flights in Operation United Protector were flown from the French carrier Charles de Gaulle.

Andrew Murrison: During Operation Ellamy last year, no UK sorties were flown from the French carrier Charles de Gaulle.
	The UK does not comment on the operational details of allied nations' operations, which are a matter for the governments concerned.

Nuclear Submarines

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps are in place to prevent fires on nuclear submarines.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister for Defence Equipment Support and Technology, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Peter Luff) on 19 March 2012, Official Report, columns 465-66W, to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson).

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of international state militaries which own unmanned aerial vehicles (a) in total and (b) with missile capacity.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence assesses that there are approximately 80 states whose armed forces operate an unmanned air vehicle capability. Of these less than a dozen operate systems which have the capacity to be armed with missiles or other munitions.

Veterans: Grace and Favour Housing

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many former military personnel have been provided with grace and favour homes; at what cost to the public purse such accommodation is funded; and which Department funds such accommodation.

Mark Francois: It is not a requirement for former military personnel to provide the Ministry of Defence (MOD) with information pertaining to their accommodation arrangements, including any 'grace and favour' homes, and indeed it is a matter between the employer and employee. As such, the MOD does not hold specific information on such arrangements. The MOD does not fund any grace and favour accommodation for former military personnel.

Electricity

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration he has given to setting a target date to decarbonise electricity in the Energy Bill.

Gregory Barker: The Government is committed to meeting our statutory carbon budgets, as set out in the 2008 Climate Change Act. Analysis published in the December 2011 Carbon Plan suggests that the most cost effective paths to deliver the 2050 target require the electricity sector to be largely decarbonised during the 2030s.
	The Department is currently undertaking further work on the issue of decarbonisation of the power sector ahead of the progression of the Energy Bill. In particular careful consideration is being given to all the recommendations received from the Energy and Climate Change Committee including those related to the level of grid decarbonisation.
	We will be providing greater clarity on the direction of travel through the Electricity Market Reforms.

Energy: Conservation

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consideration he has given to continuing the (a) Carbon Emissions Reduction Target and (b) Community Energy Saving Programme until Green Deal finance is fully operational.

Gregory Barker: The Carbon Emissions Reduction Target and the Community Energy Saving Programme both end on 31 December this year. The Government has previously stated that it has no intention of extending the deadline for completion of either scheme.
	Green Deal providers will be able to offer Green Deal plans to consumers from 28 January 2013.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent work has been done by the Monitoring Group on Coal Health Claims; and what the remit of the group is.

John Hayes: The terms of reference of the Coal Health Claims Monitoring Groups were:
	“to review on a regular and transparent basis progress the implementation of the Handling Agreement on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Vibration White Finger (VWF) so that the communities concerned can be confident that everything possible is being done to ensure the sensitive, rapid and effective delivery of compensation to ex-miners”.
	The VWF scheme was formally closed by the presiding judge on 1 May 2009 and the COPD scheme was formally concluded by the presiding judge on 13 December 2010. All compensation claims under the schemes have now been dealt with, and the role of the Monitoring Groups has therefore concluded.

Off-grid Households

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of off-grid households in (a) East Hampshire constituency, (b) East Hampshire District, (c) Hampshire county and (d) England.

John Hayes: The exact number of households who are off the gas grid is not held centrally.
	Estimates have been produced based on information held from two administrative sources; these are the Gemserv database on the location of electricity meters, and data from xoserve and independent gas transporters on the location of gas meters. Subtracting the number of gas meters from the number of electricity meters produces a broad estimate of the number of off grid properties. However some households can have more than one electricity meter associated with their property (for instance, a supply for communal facilities such as stairwell lighting or a lift). Additionally, the standard gas industry definition of domestic use uses a consumption threshold, with any consumer using less than 73,200 kWh of gas per year being classed as a domestic user; it is estimated that—Great Britain wide—this definition allocates around 2 million small business users as domestic. Furthermore a small number of meters (less than one-third of 1%) do not have sufficient information associated with them to be able to allocate them to a specific area. The underlying data on the number of gas and electricity meters in each local authority are available on the Departments website at:
	www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/regional/electricity/electricity.aspx
	www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/energy_stats/regional/gas/gas.aspx
	The following table shows, for 2010, the number of domestic electricity meter points, the number of gas meter points where consumption was less than 73,200 kWh, and the difference between the two figures, which forms an estimate of the number of households off the gas grid in East Hampshire, Hampshire county and England. The number of installed meters by parliamentary constituency level is not currently available, and as such this analysis cannot be produced for parliamentary constituencies.
	
		
			 Number of estimated off-grid households in East Hampshire, Hampshire county and England, 2010 
			 Local administrative unit code Local authority area Domestic electricity meters (thousand) Gas meters recording less than 73,200 kWh (thousand) Difference (thousand) 
			 24UB Basingstoke and Deane 72.1 59.0 13.2 
			 24UC East Hampshire 49.9 39.8 10.1 
			 24UD Eastleigh 52.5 48.6 3.9 
			 24UE Fareham 48.0 44.7 3.4 
			 24UF Gosport 36.6 31.5 5.2 
			 24UG Hart 36.8 33.2 3.6 
			 24UH Havant 53.6 48.8 4.8 
			 24UJ New Forest 80.9 68.5 12.5 
			 00MR Portsmouth 88.9 78.2 10.7 
			 24UL Rushmoor 37.7 34.2 3.5 
			 0OMS Southampton 103.5 80.8 22.6 
			 24UN Test Valley 50.1 34.6 15.5 
			 24UP Winchester 49.4 37.8 11.6 
			  Total Hampshire 760.0 639.7 120.6 
			  Total England 23,024.8 19,683.3 3,341.9

Renewable Energy: Heating

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what plans he has to introduce quality, safety and reliability guarantees to ensure that heat pump installations perform as intended.

Gregory Barker: Performance standards, warranties and guarantees of quality are key themes in the microgeneration strategy published last year. The microgeneration industry, with support from the Department, are taking that work forward. Heat pump manufacturers and the microgeneration certification scheme (MCS) have set robust technical requirements for heat pumps drawing on international and European standards. In September last year, MCS introduced improved standards for heat pumps, which are now in force.
	In addition, technical standards for heating related technologies are being set under the European Directive on Eco-design of Energy Related Products (2009/125/EC). Other legislation, such as the Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC), applies minimum standards for heat pumps to be regarded as renewable energy in the context of that directive.

Renewable Energy: Heating

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will make it his policy that the delivered coefficient of performance of air source heat pumps as installed should be set sufficiently high to qualify the pumps for subsidy through the renewable heat incentive and should have lower carbon footprints than any alternative fossil fuel source of heating.

Gregory Barker: The Government will ensure that requirements for air source heat pumps in the RHI are consistent with the requirements of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (2009).
	DECC is currently consulting on this matter in the consultations on proposals for a domestic RHI and the extension of the non-domestic RHI. The Department plans to respond these consultations in early 2013 and the response will also take into account the EUs guidance on this matter which is due to be published in January 2013.

Sick Leave

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change on how many days on average staff of his Department in each pay grade were absent from work as a result of ill health in each of the last 12 months.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) collects and records data on its staff who are absent from work due to ill health on a quarterly basis. The data for the last four quarters, which shows the average working days lost per person, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Quarter ending: 
			  31 December 2011 31 March 2012 30 June 2012 30 September 2012 
			 AO 8.6 7.4 8.2 6.3 
			 EO 8.6 7.5 8.3 5.2 
			 HEO 4.2 3.8 3.8 3.2 
			 SEO 4 3.6 4.2 3.5 
			 Grade 7 2.8 2.3 2.2 2.1 
			 Grade 6 1.7 1.8 2.2 2.4 
			 SCS 3.5 2.4 1.7 0.8 
			 DECC 4.1 3.6 3.6 3 
		
	
	Each quarter represents data over the preceding 12 months.

Water Power

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what progress he has made on the building of a marine energy park at Devonport.

Gregory Barker: A Marine Energy Park is a collaborative partnership between local government, Local Enterprise Partnerships, regional academic, research and testing centres and a range of industry expertise identified within a geographic region.
	The first Marine Energy Park was launched in January 2012 in the South West of England. It extends from Bristol through to Cornwall to as far as the Isles of Scilly and includes Devonport, the Wave Hub in Cornwall and the Fab-Test nursery site in Falmouth. With the clustering of such expertise in the region, the expectation is that the Park will create a positive business environment that will foster business collaboration, attract investment and accelerate the commercial development of the marine energy sector in the South West.

Cleaning Services

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make it her policy to require all cleaning contracts held with her Department to stipulate that the cleaning products used and their ingredients should not have been tested on animals.

Alan Duncan: DFID's two UK staff offices have operated under contract to Mitie Technical Facilities Management (TFM) since December 2010. As part of this contract, Mitie TFM is responsible for the cleaning in both offices. Mitie TFM has advised that they are committed to conducting their procurement activities to meet the highest ethical standards and is compliant with relevant legislation, best practice and Mitie policies.

St Helena

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent progress has been made with construction of the St Helena airport.

Alan Duncan: Work on the St Helena Airport Project is progressing well. The project is on schedule and on budget. Initial logistics work undertaken by the contractor is now virtually complete. This work is essential in setting up and supporting a major construction project of this type on a remote island like St Helena. Over the past 11 months, the contractor has established a dedicated shipping service for materials to the island and has transported all major construction equipment to the airport site on Prosperous Bay Plain. To do this the contractor has constructed a temporary wharf in Rupert's Bay, established a regular shipping service from Walvis Bay in Namibia, constructed five temporary fuel tanks to provide 900,000 litres of storage and completed a 14 km haul road to the airport site. Work has now commenced on the permanent works at the airport site.

Syria

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

Alan Duncan: As of October 2012 the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's (UNRWA's) General Fund had a forecast end-of-year deficit of USD 37.3 million of a total budget for the year of USD 673.8 million. We are concerned about the impact of UNRWA's predicted budget deficit on service delivery. UNRWA, donors and host countries need to work together to put UNRWA's finances on a sustainable basis. We call on all countries to honour their funding commitments to UNRWA. At the same time, UNRWA needs to step up its efforts to improve its planning, delivery of results, and long-term fundraising efforts.
	The UK is already providing core support to UNRWA, totalling £106.5 million from 2012 to 2015. We continue to consider what more we can do to address the needs of those affected by the crisis in Syria, including specific support for Palestinian refugees.

Employment

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 23 October 2012, Official Report, column 848W, on unemployment: statistics, what assessment the Office of National Statistics has made of the proportion of those included within its definition of employed in its Labour Market Statistics who are unpaid.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated October 2012
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2012, Official Report, column 848W, on unemployment: statistics, what assessment the Office for National Statistics has made of the proportion of those included within its definition of employed in its Labour Market Statistics who are unpaid (125492).
	For the three months ending August 2012, the estimated total number of people classified as in employment on government supported training and employment programmes was 158,000, as derived from the Labour Force Survey. It is not possible to estimate how many of those classified as in employment on government supported training and employment programmes are unpaid. The estimated total number of people in employment on government supported training and employment programmes represents 0.5 per cent of the overall total (29.590 million).
	A separate component within that overall total is “unpaid family workers” which totalled 112,000 during the same period, representing 0.4 per cent of the total in employment. An unpaid family worker is someone working in a business run by another family member, or relative who benefits indirectly from the income generated by that business instead of receiving a wage.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answers of October 2012, Official Report, column 419W, if he will publish the Major Projects Authority report into High Speed 2.

Chloe Smith: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave on 19 October 2012.

Affordable Housing

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much grant input has been expended to achieve the objective of more affordable housing in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Prisk: In the 2011-2012 financial year, £1.7 billion was expended on the provision of affordable housing through the Homes and Communities Agency, Affordable Homes Programme.
	I would note that the key metric is the overall level of housing investment. Our 2011-15 Affordable Housing Programme will invest £4.5 billion of taxpayers' money in affordable housing, but lever in a further £15 billion of private investment, assisted by innovative schemes like Affordable Rent.
	The National Audit Office's recent report (‘Financial Viability of the Social Housing Sector: Introducing the Affordable Homes Programme’, HC 465, 4 July 2012) observed that:
	“The Department selected the best delivery model open to it... The Department has so far achieved its policy objective to maximise the number of homes delivered within the available grant funding... The Programme was over subscribed which led to the Department raising its target for the number of affordable homes it expects to deliver.”

Affordable Housing

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new tenants have benefited from new provision of affordable housing in the last year.

Mark Prisk: In 2011-12, the most recent year for which data are available, 16,642 social rent and 1,031 affordable rent lettings of newly built or acquired properties were made to tenants whose previous accommodation was not social housing. These data are from the Continuous Recording of Lettings and Sales (CORE), which collects data on new social lettings and tenants.
	The figure provided for social rent lettings includes data supplied by private registered providers and local authorities. However, not all local authorities are currently covered by CORE. Information about affordable rent lettings includes data supplied by private registered providers only and covers for the period from September 2011, when providers started to sign contracts with the Homes and Communities Agency to deliver affordable rent properties, to the end of March 2012.
	Overall, delivery of affordable homes through the Homes and Communities Agency, including affordable home ownerships schemes, resulted in 51,665 new affordable homes in 2011-12. Moreover, in the most recent year, the New Homes Bonus has supported the delivery of almost 61,000 new affordable homes.

Council Tax

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he expects to publish a response to his consultation on localising support for council tax in England; and if he will place all replies to the consultation in the Library .

Brandon Lewis: I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 217W.

Council Tax Benefits

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has received legal advice on the (a) potential effects of the announcement of a transition fund on the legality of consultations on council tax benefit reform that were launched before that announcement and (b) potential for future judicial review of individual local authority council tax benefit schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: As the right hon. Member should know, as has been the practice of previous Administrations, the Government does not confirm or deny whether legal advice has been received on any issue.

Housing Benefit

Sheila Gilmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of housing benefit recipients aged under 25 who have (a) been accepted as homeless by a local authority and (b) slept rough in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mark Prisk: The figures collected by my Department from English local authorities relating to households accepted as homeless and to rough sleepers do not include information on the number of people concerned who are aged under 25 and receiving housing benefit.
	In the absence of underlying data, the Department has not made an estimate of the number of people in these categories.
	We secured an additional £70 million last year to help local agencies prevent and tackle homelessness. This includes the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund to support the national roll-out of No Second Night Out, tackle rough sleeping and protect vital front line services and the £20 million Single Homelessness Prevention Fund to help ensure single homeless people get access to good housing advice.
	This is on top of the £400 million we are investing for homelessness prevention over four years (2011-12 to 2014-15), which includes £10.8 million to help single people access private rented sector accommodation.

Internet

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answers of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 220W, on internet, and 22 October 2012, Official Report, column 628W, on internet, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) security and (b) productivity implications of his Department's decision not to log departmental internet usage.

Brandon Lewis: The Department implements appropriate security measures on advice from GCHQ to protect our networks and staff. In line with the practice of previous Administrations, it would not be appropriate to comment on these, as public disclosure in itself could undermine such security arrangements.
	As I outlined in my answer of 10 September 2012, Official Report, column 40W, as a matter of common sense, employers will want to ensure that their staff are not inappropriately using computers during working hours; the productivity of individual staff is a matter for departmental line managers.

Local Government Finance

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what amount of Early Intervention Grant his Department expects to receive from the Department for Education in the financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14; how much his Department received in 2010-11 and 2011-12; and for what purposes such funds will be used.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 18 October 2012
	My Department has not received any Early Intervention Grant from the Department for Education for the years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13; the grant was paid directly by the Department of Education to local authorities.
	In April 2013 it is proposed that the Early Intervention Grant is rolled into the Business Rates Retention Scheme. The proposed amount in 2013-14 is £1,726.180 million as announced in the Department's Business Rates Retention technical consultation dated July 2012. A copy of which can be found on the Department's website. On transfer into the Business Rate Retention Scheme the visibility of early intervention resources will be maintained. The Government is committed to investing at the earliest stage in children's lives and effective early intervention does rely on local authorities and communities working together to make the most effective and efficient use of the funding resources available and to direct it to the needs of those communities.

Parish Councils: Complaints

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what mechanisms exist to deal with individual complaints relating to parish councils which fall outside the remit of the Local Government Ombudsman.

Brandon Lewis: Parish councils can put in place their own mechanisms for handling complaints, having regard to a model code of practice produced by the National Association of Local Councils. In addition every elector has the right to raise any matter affecting parish business at the annual parish meeting, and a group of electors has the power to call for a poll on any issue which affects the parish.
	Also, where electors consider there has been a possible waste or inefficiency or think that their council has spent money unlawfully, they can refer a complaint to their local district auditor.

Debt Collection

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what discussions his Department has had with officials in the Department for Communities and Local Government on the operation of private bailiff firms; and what reports he has received of (a) bailiff firms disregarding local authority guidelines as to their conduct and (b) local authorities not implementing Government guidelines in respect of the conduct of bailiff firms.

Helen Grant: My officials have regular discussions with officials in the Department for Communities and Local Government regarding the use of private bailiff firms by local authorities as part of the ongoing work on bailiff reforms.
	We have not received any direct reports of bailiff firms disregarding local authority guidelines as to their conduct or local authorities not implementing Government guidelines in respect of the conduct of bailiff firms.
	My officials will continue to work with the Department for Communities and Local Government and will contribute to their review of guidance provided to local authorities on the recovery of council tax arrears.

Employment Tribunals Service: Hastings

Amber Rudd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will estimate the number of employment tribunal cases that have been brought against businesses in (a) Hastings and (b) Hastings and Rye constituency in each year since 2007.

Helen Grant: The Ministry of Justice publishes, annually and quarterly, official statistics on tribunal workloads, including data on national receipts and disposals in the employment tribunals system.
	These published data on new claim receipts for employment tribunals are not broken down by geographical locations. However, it is possible to interrogate Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service's case management systems to produce management information on workloads by reference to, among other criteria, the postcodes of respondent employers in “live” (or recently disposed of) employment tribunal proceedings.
	Save where an appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal is lodged, case records (including electronic case management entries) are archived a year after the point of disposal. Once archived, statistical data is retained but anonymised. Therefore it is no longer possible to retrieve data by reference to party details, including address details of the respondent employers involved.
	Using management information for the last complete and available reporting period (1 October 2011 to 30 June 2012):
	(a) 15 claims were accepted by the Employment Tribunal Office in Ashford (the office covering the Hastings geographical area) where the address of the respondent was listed as within postcode districts TN34 or TN35 (Hastings); and
	(b) 45 claims were accepted by the Employment Tribunal Office in Ashford where the respondent employer's address was listed in the Hastings and Rye constituency. For the purposes of answering this question, we have assumed that the constituency is coterminous with the postcode districts TN34, TN35, TN37 and TN38. To interrogate the management information available by reference to the exact constituency postcode breakdown could be done only at disproportionate cost.
	Management information for the remainder of the last available 12 month period (July, August and September 2012) cannot be released under official statistics protocols until data on 2012-13 Quarter 2 is published on 17 January 2013.

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what information his Department collects on the proportion of requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 that were responded to by Government departments within the statutory timescales in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Helen Grant: Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice in the annual report on Freedom of Information in central Government for 2011 show that of a total of 30,531 non-routine requests received by Departments of State, 90% (27,511) of requests were dealt with ‘in time’ by meeting the deadline or other permitted extension deadline.
	
		
			 Table 1: Percentage of requests meeting deadline by Department in 2011 
			  Percentage of requests “in time” (i.e. meeting deadline or with permitted extension) 
			 Attorney General's Office 99 
			 Cabinet Office 71 
			 Communities and Local Government 94 
			 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 90 
			 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 100 
			 Department for Education 78 
			 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 90 
			 Department for International Development 98 
			 Department for Transport 92 
			 Department for Work and Pensions 96 
			 Department of Energy and Climate Change 91 
			 Department of Health 100 
			 Export Credits Guarantee Department 82 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 94 
			 HM Treasury 98 
			 Home Office 94 
			 Ministry of Defence 81 
			 Ministry of Justice 84 
			 Northern Ireland Office 94 
			 Scotland Office 99 
			 Wales Office 91 
			 Departments of State Total 90 
		
	
	More information can be found on FOI statistics on the Ministry of Justice website at
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/foi/implementation

Marriage: Ceremonies

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward proposals to eliminate statutory impediments to the holding of outdoor marriage ceremonies.

Helen Grant: The Government currently has no plans to amend the law in relation to outdoor wedding ceremonies.

Pay Systems

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he intends to proceed with the delivery of probation services on the basis of the payment by results system.

Jeremy Wright: By 2015, we intend to apply the payment by results approach to the majority of rehabilitation work conducted with offenders in the community. This will involve opening up the market for rehabilitation services as envisaged in the Offender Management Act 2007 where private sector and voluntary sector innovation can help drive improvements. The public sector probation service will continue to have an important role to play in ensuring that the public is protected and the sentence of the court is delivered. It is our intention that our approach will combine the best of the public, private and voluntary sectors.
	We will be announcing detailed proposals soon.

Pay Systems

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost has been of the payment by result pilot projects which the Government has placed on hold in (a) England and (b) the west midlands since commencement of the projects.

Jeremy Wright: I understand that this question relates to the costs of the community-based payment by results pilots that have been under design in conjunction with the Wales and Staffordshire and west midlands probation trusts and which are on hold whilst proposals for the wider application of payment by results system are being developed.
	The National Offender Management Service has spent approximately £240,000 on legal costs and programme staff recruited to support the development of these pilots. Officials of different grades and disciplines across the National Offender Management Service and the Ministry of Justice have also supported development of the pilots as part of their other duties since 2010 but to quantify the overall cost would be disproportionately expensive.
	The probation trusts involved in developing the pilots have also incurred costs locally. When the details have been established I will write to the hon. Member.
	By investing in the development of these pilots, we have learned important lessons about market readiness for payment by results, structuring public services contracts by outcomes and driving value for money through the commissioning process.

Prisoners

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were refused entry into Her Majesty's Prison Thameside, and redirected to Her Majesty's Prison Peterborough, in August 2012, due to staffing difficulties.

Jeremy Wright: No prisoners were refused entry into HMP Thameside or redirected to HMP Peterborough during August 2012 because of staffing difficulties.

Prisoners

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions prisoners have been redirected from privately contracted prisons in England and Wales to public sector prisons, due to staffing or other operational difficulties from January 2011 to September 2012.

Jeremy Wright: Redirections occur when a prisoner at court is sent to a prison other than the court indicated on the court committal pathway. A large number of redirections take place daily. The reasons for redirections normally fall into two main categories:
	prison population management; and
	prisoner discipline or welfare.
	On no occasion between January 2011 and September 2012 were prisoners redirected from a privately-operated prison in England and Wales to a public sector prison because of staffing difficulties.
	During the population build-up at HMP Thameside, admission of additional prisoners was paused for two days (Saturday 25 August and Monday 27 August), to allow time for new prisoners who were causing difficulties to settle into the establishment. During this period, prisoners at court were directed to other local prisons in London. The intake of prisoners at the prison recommenced on 28 August.
	This was a sensible and proportionate response to a control issue, in line with standard practice in both the public and private sectors.

Prisoners

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were refused entry by a privately contracted prison in England and Wales and redirected to an alternative prison, due to staffing or other operational difficulties between January 2011 and September 2012.

Jeremy Wright: None.

Sir Edward Heath

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many files relating to the premiership of Sir Edward Heath (a) are retained by Government Departments and (b) have been transferred to the National Archives but have not yet been released under the 30 Year Rule.

Helen Grant: There are many millions of entries on The National Archives’ catalogue and a wide variety of search terms which may identify records dating from the period of Edward Heath's premiership (1970-74). Over a million records are listed on the catalogue as dating from that period, but without looking at these individually it is not clear whether each of these directly relates to Edward Heath's premiership. Results for various search terms can be viewed by searching the publicly available catalogue at:
	www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/discovery
	The most relevant record series relating to Edward Heath's premiership is PREM 15, which contains Prime Minister's Office files of the period and relates to matters in which the Prime Minister was most directly involved. PREM 15 contains 2,246 files, of which 2,160 are fully open to public access and are viewable in The National Archives' reading rooms.
	(a) Of the 2,246 PREM 15 files, 71 files and 67 extracts from open files have been retained by the Cabinet Office. (b) a further 15 files and 41 extracts in the PREM 15 series are held at The National Archives but are closed to public access.
	Retained and closed files are clearly marked on the publicly available catalogue, and members of the public can make a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 for any retained or closed file to be opened.

Video Games

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will bring forward legislative proposals to enforce the appropriate sale of age-restricted video games.

Edward Vaizey: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
	Enforcement powers on the sale of video games are already set out in the Video Recordings Act 1984. On 30 July 2012, the protections afforded by the Act were extended so that all video games suitable only for those aged 12 or over are now covered. Government has been working in partnership with trading standards officers—who enforce regulation of age-restricted products—through the Primary Authority scheme to ensure that the new rules for video games are understood and effective. Retailers too have been working with regulators and with suppliers to ensure that everyone understands what the law requires for the labelling and sale of age-restricted video games, and that staff are fully trained.
	Meanwhile, Government has been carrying out a wider consultation on a draft code of practice for the delivery of all age-restricted product regulation, developed by the Better Regulation Delivery Office in collaboration with businesses and regulators. The consultation closed on 28 September 2012 and responses are now being considered.

Voting Rights: Prisoners

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to extend the franchise to convicted prisoners; what legislative options he has considered in response to the European Court of Human Rights judgement in the Scoppola v. Italy (No. 3) case; what draft versions of any relevant legislative proposals he has considered; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  with reference to the judgement given in the Scoppola v Italy (No. 3) case by the European Court of Human Rights in May 2012, whether he proposes to bring forward proposals to grant the right to vote to particular categories of prisoners; and whether he plans to grant prisoners the right to vote based on the (a) type of offence their conviction relates to and (b) length of time they are serving in custody;
	(3)  what his response is to the decision taken at the 1150 DH meeting of Ministers' Deputies, held on 24 to 26 September 2012 at the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, reference CM/Del/DEC(2012)1150/27/20 September 2012, in relation to the Hirst No.2 group against United Kingdom; what representations the Government made in advance of that decision being made; when he plans to notify the Committee of Ministers of the steps the Government will take to comply with the judgements on the voting rights of prisoners; and if he will place in the Library copies of all related correspondence between the Government and the Council of Europe in 2012;
	(4)  what sanctions the UK might face if it did not comply with the European Court of Human Rights' judgements on the voting rights of prisoners; and on what dates he has sought legal advice on this matter.

Damian Green: The Government is considering carefully the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment on prisoner voting in the case of Scoppola v. Italy (No. 3) and its implications for the UK.
	The Government's strongly held view—as we argued robustly before the Court—is that this should be a matter for national Parliaments, not the Strasbourg Court. We are considering how best to reconcile this view with our international obligations.
	The decision taken at the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers meeting on 26 September in relation to Hirst No.2 was to resume consideration of the question at the Committee's 1157th meeting in December 2012. A United Kingdom representative made an oral statement and answered questions at the meeting in the usual way. There are no plans at this time to place copies of representations to, or correspondence between, the Government and the Council of Europe in the House of Commons Library.
	It would be premature to speculate on potential sanctions the ECtHR or the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe may or may not impose in relation to the judgments on prisoner voting rights. The Government will respond to the judgments of the ECtHR, and inform the Committee of Ministers, in due course. The deadline to do so is 23 November.
	The Government does not disclose details of its legal advice.

Work Capability Assessment

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the average waiting time is for appeals relating to the work capability assessment in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) each local authority area in Scotland.

Mark Hoban: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
	Appeals against decisions made by the Department for Work and Pensions on an individual's entitlement to social security and child support are heard by the First-tier Tribunal—Social Security and Child Support (SSCS), administered by Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). The SSCS Tribunal hears appeals against benefit entitlement decisions in respect of employment and support allowance (ESA) rather than against work capability assessments themselves.
	Data for the SSCS Tribunal cannot be provided by local authority area.
	The following table shows the average time from receipt of an ESA appeal at the Tribunal to disposal for (a) Great Britain and (b) Scotland. The information covers 1 April 2012 to 30 June 2012, the latest period for which HMCTS have published the data.
	
		
			 Employment and support allowance appeals—average waiting times in weeks (April-June 2012) 
			  April-June 2012 
			 Great Britain 19.3 
			 Scotland 11.2 
			 Note: The above data is taken from HMCTS management information.

Children: Maintenance

Anne McGuire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many non-resident parents within the Child Support Agency's caseload have a child maintenance liability which has been increased above the basic formula, as a result of a successful variation application by a parent with care, on the basis that the lifestyle of the non-resident parent was inconsistent with declared income.

Steve Webb: There are a number of grounds on which a variation can be applied for, and each application is investigated on a case by case basis and may result in the assessment being adjusted. Our Management Information systems are unable to provide this level of detail without accessing each individual case, which would be at a disproportionate cost.

Children: Maintenance

Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Child Support Agency's policy is on the collection of ongoing child maintenance liabilities from a non-resident parent in circumstances where a court has made an order against the non-resident parent for repayment in instalments of past child maintenance arrears.

Steve Webb: The Agency remit is to collect all child maintenance as quickly and efficiently as possible taking into account the circumstances of both parents and the welfare of any children affected by the recovery of the debt.
	Where the Agency instigates necessary enforcement proceedings in the county courts throughout England and Wales the non-resident parent may apply for a Variation Order as to the date or rate of repayment of the debt. This may result in an order being granted for payment of arrears of child maintenance by instalment.
	Payment by instalments may also be ordered by the magistrates court in England and Wales, or the Sheriff in Scotland, when the Agency seeks a warrant of commitment to prison. The court may fix a term of imprisonment or make an order for disqualification from driving but suspend or postpone the issue of the warrant or order until such time and upon such conditions as the court thinks just.
	The law provides that the court shall, in the presence of the non-resident parent, inquire as to his or her means therefore, before setting any conditions, the court will be aware of the non-resident parent's ability to pay and may order payment of the arrears accordingly. The Agency will request that the payment be set at such a level as to recover the debt in as short a time as can be reasonably achieved given the non- resident parent's financial position. If the non-resident parent fails to make the required payments then the Agency will ask the court to summon or cite the non-resident parent to show cause for not adhering to the payment conditions set by the court and will request that the sentence be implemented.
	In all instances, the court will set the instalments to cover arrears only; however, when looking at a parent's financial means they will consider his or her ability to pay against the need to meet ongoing liability for regular maintenance. It is our view that children benefit overall from receiving maintenance regularly so collection of ongoing maintenance will always be our primary concern.

Children: Maintenance

Anne Begg: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Child Support Agency has responded to the request of the Independent Case Examiner in January 2012 that it considers giving its Banking and Payment Assignment Service Team access to customers' addresses so that if problems arise with a standing order it could contact its clients direct rather than having to contact the bank; and what response he has received to any such request.

Steve Webb: The Agency confirmed that the Banking and Payment Assignment Service Team (BPAS) do have access to all of the CSA's legacy systems. The clients affected by the bank's letter are non-resident parents who currently pay by standing order and whose bank do not provide a NINO, address or request for assessment. The Agency writes to the bank to ask for more information in order to trace the correct non-resident parent. This is a system-generated letter which happens in less than 1.5% of the receipts that BPAS process. The Agency does not divulge any additional information from that forwarded by the bank. Additionally, standing order will not be a preferred method of collection within the future scheme, reducing the numbers further. ICE approved closure of the recommendation.

Employment and Support Allowance

Julie Hilling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 551W, on employment and support allowance, 
	(1)  if he will make it his policy to collect information on how many people who appealed against the decision not to pay them employment and support allowance died before the determination of their appeal through (a) illness and (b) suicide;
	(2)  for what reasons his Department does not collect information on how many people who appealed against the decision not to pay them employment and support allowance died before the determination of their appeal through (a) illness and (b) suicide.

Mark Hoban: The Department publishes information on ESA appeals when they have been heard by HM Courts and Tribunal Service. As the Department's benefit administration datasets do not capture pending appeals information, we are currently unable to publish Official Statistics for this specific area. The Department has no immediate plans to collect pending appeals information.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many youth contract placements have been started in (a) England and Wales, (b) the East Midlands, (c) Nottinghamshire and (d) Ashfield constituency; and what proportion of such placements are with smaller employers.

Mark Hoban: The Youth Contract went live in April 2012 and includes extra work experience places, including those that offer training and guaranteed interviews through sector-based work academies. This provides an offer of a place for every 18 to 24-year-old who wants one, before they enter the Work programme.
	Official statistics for work experience and sector-based work academy starts from the start of the Youth Contract in April 2012 to May 2012 show:
	
		
			 Work experience starts (April and May) 
			  Number 
			 England and Wales 8,840 
			 East Midlands 720 
			 Nottinghamshire 160 
			 Ashfield constituency 20 
		
	
	
		
			 Sector-based work academy starts (April and May) 
			  Number 
			 England only (policy not in Wales) 2,340 
			 East Midlands 140 
			 Nottinghamshire 40 
			 Ashfield constituency — 
			 Note: Figures rounded to the nearest 10; numbers under 5 are marked with a dash. Source: Official Statistics Database. 
		
	
	Because we do not routinely collect data on employers by size we do not know what proportion of work experience places are with small employers.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what liaison arrangements are in place between his Department and the Department for Education on the Youth Contract for young people aged 16 to 17 years.

Mark Hoban: The Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Education worked closely together in the design and procurement of the Youth Contract programme for young people aged 16 to 17 years. This has ensured that the knowledge gained from existing programmes was built on to establish a targeted initiative which would meet the needs of our most disadvantaged young people. Since the programme launched in September officials from both Departments have met on a regular basis to discuss the Youth Contract as a whole, including this particular element. Both Departments will continue to work together to ensure the operational alignment of all parts of the Youth Contract.

Employment: Discrimination

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to tackle discrimination in the workplace against people with schizophrenia.

Esther McVey: Where a person meets the definition of a disabled person set out in the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful for an employer to directly discriminate against such disabled employees and potential employees. An employer is also required to make reasonable adjustments to any element of the recruitment process and/or job which places a disabled applicant/employee at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people, if it is reasonable in all the circumstances of the particular case for them to do so.
	Where customers with schizophrenia need extra support to find or retain work the local Jobcentre Plus office can refer them to a disability employment adviser, who can provide support and advice in finding or staying in employment, including sourcing suitable job opportunities, advocating on their behalf with employers, and using the professional expertise of occupational psychologists specialising in working with disabled people. They will also be able to refer them, where appropriate, to personalised back to work support to help unemployed people, for example the Work programme or to the specialist support available for disabled people, for example Work Choice, Access to Work or residential training.

Housing Benefit

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has to teach people about the changes to housing benefit.

Steve Webb: The Department has a number of initiatives designed to increase awareness of changes to housing benefit. Responsibility for communicating changes is a joint one with each local authority. Guidance, standard letters, factsheets and responses to frequently asked questions have been designed with and made available to local authorities who can use or adapt them in order to have maximum impact locally. The Department also supplies supporting tools for claimants such as online calculators for the benefit cap and local housing allowance.

Mental Function Champions

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to monitor the performance of mental function champions.

Mark Hoban: There has been no formal evaluation of the introduction of mental function champions but routine monitoring of quality and customer satisfaction takes place as part of the contractual arrangements between DWP and Atos Healthcare. In addition, Professor Harrington's second review noted that the role is being well-utilised and that Healthcare Professionals have welcomed the advice and support. DWP is continuing to work with Atos Healthcare to build on the mental function champion role and is looking at how their knowledge and expertise can be shared directly with decision makers.

Occupational Pensions

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the retail distribution review on auto-enrolled staff.

Steve Webb: The Retail Distribution Review (RDR) aims to address long-running problems that impact on the quality of advice and consumer outcomes in the UK retail investment market. Once implemented the RDR will boost confidence in the financial advice sector by professionalising advice and making charges more transparent.
	For workplace personal pensions, the FSA has said the RDR bans financial advisors from receiving commission set by pension providers in return for recommending their products to the employer. From 31 December 2012 advisors and employers must agree the price for advice in advance.
	We are monitoring developments in the market, including looking at all types of charges, and will take prompt action if we spot abuse or charges become excessive. Powers in the Pensions Act 2008 can be used to stop schemes from being qualifying schemes for automatic enrolment if members are required to pay excessive charges for anything which does not deliver them a pension benefit.

Remploy

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether Remploy Ltd is categorised as a public sector company; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: Remploy Ltd is constituted as a company limited by guarantee and is categorised as a public non-financial corporation and, an executive non departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Social Fund

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many successful claimants from the Social Fund there were in each local authority in 2010-11.

Steve Webb: A table will be placed directly in the Library which provides details of the amount spent in each local authority in 2010-11 on each element of the discretionary Social Fund. There are no figures held for the regulated Social Fund at local authority level.

Social Security Benefits

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has to teach claimants about how to handle their finances and budgets when moving from weekly to monthly benefit payments.

Mark Hoban: We recognise that some claimants may need additional help to budget, particularly during the transitional period when payments change to a monthly cycle. We are working with the advice sector to ensure that claimants are able to access appropriate budgeting support services to enable them to manage their money successfully as they move to universal credit. Examples of the types of advice under consideration include:
	advice on managing money and paying bills including how to do a monthly budget plan;
	motivating and increasing confidence to take control of personal finances;
	prioritising and paying rent on time; and/or
	advice on how to set up and manage bank accounts.
	For some claimants an alternative payment arrangement may be needed to support them in the move to UC; this could be a more frequent payment, a split payment within the household, or payment of housing costs direct to the landlord.

Social Security Benefits

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be affected by the benefit cap, by (a) local authority, (b) parliamentary constituency and (c) Jobcentre Plus district.

Mark Hoban: On 16 July 2012 the Department published an updated impact assessment for the household benefit cap, which estimated that in Great Britain 56,000 households would be affected by the cap, in the first year of its implementation (the financial year 2013-14).
	On the basis of the impact assessment, a copy of the table ‘Local Authority breakdown of those affected by the benefit cap’ was placed in the Library and can be found at:
	http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2012-1447/LocalAuthoritybreakdownaffectedbybenefitcap.doc
	Tables showing a breakdown of the number of households who may be affected by parliamentary constituency and a breakdown by Jobcentre Plus district will be placed in the Library.
	Please note in all of the tables household numbers are rounded to the nearest 100. Areas with fewer than 100 households affected are denoted by “..”, as additional disclosure control has been applied to these areas. For this reason, figures will not sum to the total number of households affected in the July 2012 impact assessment for the household benefit cap.
	We assume that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. In all cases the Department is working to support households through this transition, using existing provision through Jobcentre Plus and the Work programme to move as many into work as possible. Therefore, please note that these figures are subject to change prior to the policy being implemented in April 2013.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what advice and guidance his Department has given claimants, including long-term claimants, about the effects of the benefit cap; and what contact his Department plans to have with them before the cap is introduced.

Mark Hoban: Those claimants who may be affected by the benefit cap have been identified and the Department wrote to them in May 2012 to tell them about the cap and offer appropriate support to enable them to change their circumstances and move into work. A further letter was sent in September 2012 and it is the Department's intention to send a further notification early next year. Support available includes a helpline which can provide claimants with information and signpost them to support based on their individual needs; a calculator tool available through Gov.uk
	www.gov.uk
	which will inform claimants of the amount of likely reduction to their housing benefit when the cap is introduced; and employment support is being offered by Jobcentre Plus, the Work Programme and the Work Choice programme as appropriate. Staff in Jobcentre Plus districts are also working closely with those in local authorities in their area to offer joint support to those affected by the cap.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants from the Social Fund have been sanctioned and how much they were penalised per person, by local authority in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13 to date.

Steve Webb: The information is not readily available and has not previously been published as official statistics. In addition we do not have individual level data for all aspects of the Social Fund in particular the regulated fund.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the amount of money (a) recovered from and (b) lost through benefit fraud in each of the last 10 years.

Mark Hoban: The estimated amount of money lost through benefit fraud can be found on the DWP National Statistics Fraud and Error in the Benefit System webpage
	http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd2/index.php?page=fraud_error
	For the last 10 years the estimated level of benefit fraud was as follows:
	
		
			  Amount 
			  £ billion Percentage of benefit expenditure 
			 2011-12 (preliminary) 1.1 0.7 
			 2010-11 1.2 0.8 
			 2009-10 1.1 0.8 
			 2008-09 1.0 0.8 
			 2007-08 0.8 0.6 
			 2006-07 0.8 0.6 
			 2005-06 0.6 0.6 
			 2004-05 0.8 0.8 
		
	
	
		
			 2003-04 1.0 1.0 
			 2002-03 1.8 1.6 
			 Note: There was a discontinuity in the above time series prior to 2005-06, so fraud and error estimates pre-2005-06 can not be directly compared to the estimates from 2005-06 onwards. 
		
	
	A proportion of this money fraudulently claimed is subsequently identified and recovered by the Department. For overpayment recovery purposes a debt can be classified only as fraudulent if a customer has been convicted of an offence, admitted the offence in an interview under caution or agreed to an administrative penalty. Otherwise the debt is classified as customer error. The total value of overpayments identified in 2011-12 where recovery was sought totalled £486.9 million. The total the Department recovered in 2011-12 was over £375 million, of which £354 million related to benefit overpayments. The actual amount of benefit overpayments classified as fraud that have been recovered since 2007-08 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial year Value of recoveries (£ million) 
			 2007-08 25 
			 2008-09 25 
			 2009-10 28 
			 2010-11 33 
			 2011-12 39 
			 Sum 149 
			 Source: Debt Accounting. This does not form official statistics but is derived from Management Information. This data is only available from 2007-08.

Universal Credit

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to support those people eligible to receive universal credit who do not have access to a computer or are unable to use one.

Mark Hoban: Universal credit will be predominantly online, we recognise some claimants do not have access to computers and will require support to transact online. Our current plans are to provide claimants with digital support based on needs, either directly or indirectly through third parties.

Universal Credit

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent progress the working party on the future funding of supported accommodation following the introduction of universal credit has made; and whether it will report its recommendations.

Steve Webb: The working group was set up to consider the issues around helping with the housing costs of those living in supported housing and as such no formal recommendations were made. However, those discussions did inform last year's consultation document.
	Having taken account of responses to that consultation and other representations, we have announced that we shall provide help towards supported housing costs outside universal credit. This will ensure that we continue to provide a flexible system to help meet the higher costs often associated with providing this type of accommodation.
	We are exploring the feasibility of a localised funding system with the Department of Communities and Local Government and the devolved Administrations. We are convinced that local knowledge is essential to help identify this often diverse group, build effective relationships with providers and ensure that resources are targeted effectively at those who need it while ensuring that any financial scrutiny is well directed.

Universal Credit

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the marginal deduction rates for individuals under (a) the current system and (b) universal credit are by income bracket.

Mark Hoban: The marginal deduction rate that applies to an individual is not directly related to their income; it is a product of the individual taper rates of the benefits they receive and the rate of tax and national insurance that they pay.
	Universal credit (UC) will replace the complex system of tapers for in-work support with a consistent taper of 65% on net income, and remove the 100% taper for out of work benefits; as a result universal credit will reduce the highest marginal deduction rates (MDRs).
	The following table, which was published at Budget 2012, give examples of MDRs for individuals with different characteristics:
	
		
			 Budget 2012: Table B.2: Illustrative participation tax rates (PTRs) and marginal deduction rates (MDRs) for example individuals 
			  2014-15 
			  Excluding universal credit Including universal credit 
			  At 10 hours At 35 hours At 10 hours At 35 hours 
			  PTR MDR PTR MDR PTR MDR PTR MDR 
			 Lone parent, one child 70 100 54 73 0 0 46 76 
			 First earner in couple, no children 85 100 70 73 24 65 56 76 
			 First earner in couple, two children 85 100 61 91 7 65 51 76 
			 Second earner in couple, no children. First earner working 10 hours 97 65 58 73 65 65 68 76 
			 Second earner in couple, two children. First earner working 10 hours 93 0 59 91 65 65 68 76 
			 Single, under 25, no children 91 65 66 32 50 65 64 76 
			 Note: Analysis assumes no council tax benefit entitlement and excludes child care costs. Further details of the assumptions underpinning the estimates in this table can be found in the Data Sources document. Source: HM Treasury estimates 
		
	
	The table shows the wide range of MDRs faced by various illustrative individuals under the current system. For example, an individual who earns too much to receive out of work benefits—income support, jobseekers allowance, employment and support allowance—but is simultaneously in receipt of housing benefit and tax credits can have MDRs as high as 91% (assuming they have no entitlement to council tax benefit).
	Under universal credit, an individual earning less than their earnings disregard will have an MDR of zero. For an individual on the UC taper and not paying tax and national insurance they will face an MDR of 65%. For an individual receiving UC and paying tax and national insurance the MDR is 76%.

Work Capability Assessment

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that Welsh language correspondence from Jobcentre Plus decision makers to claimants is (a) available and (b) timely.

Mark Hoban: The Department for Work and Pensions' Welsh Language Scheme was approved by the Welsh Language Board in March 2010, and sets out how we will deal with the public in their preferred language. Processes are in place across the Department to enable customers to deal with DWP in their preferred language.
	An indicator on our Labour Market IT System records the customer's preference for dealing with the business in Welsh or English, and whether the preference is for written or verbal communication or both. The majority of letters generated locally are automatically produced in Welsh if the marker is set.
	The current benefit computer systems are unable to automatically generate Welsh output. Where customers have requested correspondence in Welsh, a process is in place to translate the letters prior to issuing the customer. In the majority of cases, translated letters are dispatched within one working day by first class post. Standard English letters are issued by second class post.
	The Universal credit benefit system has been designed to produce Welsh notifications automatically.
	Ad-hoc/bespoke letters produced by Jobcentre Plus advisers, decision makers in Benefit Centres etc. are translated into Welsh on request, within the time scales requested.

Work Programme

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department has taken to ensure that functionally illiterate and innumerate adults are supported within the Work Programme.

Mark Hoban: In bidding for Work programme contracts, bidders had to demonstrate that they had the plans and capacity to tailor support to meet the needs of all participants, and in particular to help them tackle any barriers to employment.

Work Programme

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent guidance he has given to Work programme providers on youth contract wage incentives; and if he will place a copy of any such guidance in the Library.

Mark Hoban: Guidance on the Youth Contract Wage Incentive Scheme is available in chapter 20 of the Work Programme Provider Guidance. A copy of chapter 20 (part of a large document) will be placed in the Library.

Borders: Personal Records

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on the eBorders programme in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2011-12.

Mark Harper: The UK Border Agency is not currently able to confirm the detailed spend by year, but will be able to do this once the binding arbitration following the termination of the contract with Raytheon Systems Limited is complete and the Agency is advised that it is legally appropriate.

Borders: Personal Records

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what purposes data collected from the e-Borders programme is currently being used.

Mark Harper: e-Borders data provides a comprehensive set of information on arriving, transiting or departing passengers and crew, which is matched against watch lists to identify known individuals of interest prior to travel. This has resulted in over 12,800 arrests in the UK since 2005 for crimes such as murder, rape and assault. There have been multiple seizures of large quantities of all classes of drugs, cigarettes and tobacco, as well as seizures of lost, stolen or forged passports; the identification of facilitators and the refusal of entry to the UK of immigration offenders.
	In addition, e-Borders provides a repository of information about the travel history of all persons arriving in and departing the UK on international journeys (where those journeys are covered by e-Borders). Travel history data is used to monitor compliance with immigration rules, and to support criminal investigations. Data can be searched for particular travel-related behaviours which indicate potential criminal or terrorist behaviour. This assists in identifying individuals of possible interest who may not be known already to the law enforcement agencies as well as identifying networks of terrorists or crime groups.
	e-Borders data is also used to close non-asylum migrant cases as part of the Voluntary Departures Programme and to identify voluntary departures of Failed Asylum Seekers (FAS). In addition, we are working with the Office of National Statistics to assess how e-Borders data could support improvements in migration and population statistics.

Borders: Personal Records

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the original terms of reference were for the e-Borders programme; and which Minister was responsible for the programme at the time the original terms of reference were published.

Mark Harper: There is no specific document entitled the "Terms of Reference" for the e-Borders programme, which developed as a result of the Semaphore and IRIS projects. However, an Outline Business Case was produced in May 2005 which sets out the key requirements for an integrated secure border. It states;
	In order to develop a comprehensive strategy to deal with the current challenges faced and deliver a modernised intelligence-led border control for the UK, the following key requirements need to be met:
	Mechanisms for applying the level of control appropriate to the 51 perceived risk and the entitlements held by those passengers. These range from the ability to deny travel and, at the other end of the spectrum, expediting clearance on arrival;
	Mechanisms for assessing, in advance of arrival, the immigration and security risks posed by passengers on scheduled or otherwise authorised services to the UK;
	Maintaining an accurate movement record of passengers travelling to and departing from the UK, in support of further border control functions, including risk analysis and detecting those who have no right to be in the UK and assist in the fight against terrorists and criminals;
	Sharing relevant information in an efficient and legal manner between border control, law enforcement, intelligence agencies and other Government Department;
	Measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of border control operations, so that operations can be continually assessed and optimised;
	Use passenger information and intelligence to inform and strengthen border control, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, making them more effective, efficient and flexible; and
	Provide more and better information about passengers to the UK (within legal constraints) that will support the work of border control, law enforcement and intelligence agencies and other Government Departments.
	There were two Ministers for Immigration at the time the Outline Business Case was developed, Des Browne (1 April 2004 to 6 May 2005) and Tony McNulty (9 May 2005-23 May 2006).

Criminal Records: Freedom of Information

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests for information from criminal records have been (a) issued by the UK authorities and (b) received by the UK authorities under EU Council Framework Decision 2009/315/JHA since it was implemented on 27 April 2012; and how many requests for information from criminal records for purposes other than criminal proceedings under Article 6(1) of the Framework Decision have been (i) issued by the UK authorities and (ii) received by the UK authorities under the Framework Decision in that period.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 22 October 2012
	The United Kingdom Central Authority for the Exchange of Criminal Records (UKCA-ECR) has made 8,639 requests out to other member states for the previous criminal records of individuals subject criminal proceedings in the United Kingdom since EU Framework Decision 2009/315/JHA came into effect on 27 April 2012. In the same period it has received 2,127 requests in from other member states about individuals subject to criminal proceedings elsewhere in the EU.
	The UKCA-ECR has also made 258 requests out under Article 6(1) of the Framework Decision for purposes other than criminal proceedings since 27 April 2012 and has received 671 requests in for purposes other than criminal proceedings in the same period.

Deportation

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will estimate the number of cases where it has taken two attempts to return a foreign national criminal or failed asylum seeker to their country of origin between January 2011 and January 2012.

Mark Harper: The data requested are not held in a format compatible with National Statistics protocols, or produced as part of the UK Border Agency's standard reports.
	However, the UK Border Agency publishes immigration statistics including removals annually and quarterly, which are available from the Home Office Research and Statistics website. These can be found in the Library of the House, as well as the following website:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q2-2012/removals-q2-2012

Deportation: Offenders

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 120W, on offenders: foreign nationals, how many foreign national offenders discharged in 2011 with convictions for (a) rape, (b) other sexual offences and (c) violence against the person were (i) deported directly from custody, (ii) deported on release from custody, (iii) deported within one month of being released from custody, (iv) deported between one and two months of leaving custody, (v) deported between two and three months of leaving custody, (vi) deported between three and six months of leaving custody, (vii) deported between six and 12 months of leaving custody, (viii) deported 12 months or more after leaving custody, (ix) awaiting deportation in an immigration removal centre and (x) still resident in the UK.

Mark Harper: holding answer 19 October 2012
	To obtain figures for foreign national offenders discharged in 2011, according to type of offences and the range of dates requested would involve analysing a large volume of electronic records, which would incur a disproportionate cost. The following tables provide figures related to foreign national offenders deported in 2011 and in detention or still resident in the UK, categorised by the type of offences and range of dates requested.
	
		
			 Removals in 2011 
			  Rape Other sex offences Violence against the person 
			 (i) deported directly from custody (within Early Removal Scheme) 60 50 89 
			 (ii) deported on release from custody 3 11 12 
			 (iii) deported within one month of being released from custody 13 37 49 
			 (iv) deported between one and two months of leaving custody 8 20 26 
			 (v) deported between two and three months of leaving custody 5 24 12 
			 (vi) deported between three and six months of leaving custody 7 18 30 
		
	
	
		
			 (vii) deported between six and 12 months of leaving custody 9 20 29 
			 (viii) deported 12 months or more after leaving custody 17 35 47 
			 Grand total 122 215 294 
		
	
	
		
			 Released in 2011: Current detention as at 15 October, 2012 
			  Rape Other sex offences Violence against the person 
			 (ix) awaiting deportation in an immigration removal centre 1 3 23 
			 (x) still resident in the UK (non Detained and DO still being pursued) 11 15 79 
		
	
	This is internal management information and is subject to change.

Emergency Calls

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether operators who respond to 999 emergency calls and 101 non-emergency calls to the police are classified as front-line or back-office.

Damian Green: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary's (HMIC's) report ‘Demanding Times' (2011) defines the police front line as comprising
	“those who are in everyday contact with the public and who directly intervene to keep people safe and enforce the law”.
	As such, some of the activities involved in call handling and control room functions, are considered to be ‘frontline’.
	Some call handling and control room functions are considered in HMIC's report as public facing ‘middle office' roles. In this report, HMIC sets out a 60:40 split between public facing and other ‘middle office’ functions by way of representing the national picture but highlights that this may vary from force to force.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the answer of 8 July 2010, Official Report, column 387, on entry clearances: overseas students, what recent progress her Department has made on the evaluation of the student system, including English language schools; whether this work includes an assessment of the contribution to the UK economy of English language schools; if she will make it her policy to carry out such an assessment on an annual basis; and if she will make a statement.

Mark Harper: Following a public consultation from 7 December 2010, the Government introduced wide-ranging reforms to the student migration route. The first change was introduced on April 2011, and the last in July 2012. The economic impact of these reforms on different sectors, including on English language schools, was outlined in the 2011 impact assessment, ‘Reform of the Points Based Student (PBS) Immigration System’, which evaluated the costs and benefits of reform to the student visa system.
	The Government has also introduced the extended student visit visa, increasing the length of time for which student visitors can study English language without formal sponsorship from six to 11 months. English language schools can also use the Tier 4 visa route where appropriate.

EU Justice and Home Affairs

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of opting-out of all pre-Lisbon treaty EU police and criminal justice measures.

James Brokenshire: holding answer 26 October 2012
	On 15 October the Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), announced that the Government's current thinking is to opt out of these measures and seek to rejoin individual measures where it is in the national interest to do so. The Council, acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, may adopt a Decision determining that the UK shall bear the direct financial consequences, if any, necessarily and unavoidably incurred as a result of the cessation of its participation in the third pillar acts. Until we hold discussions with the EU institutions and other member states it is impossible to say with any certainty whether the UK will be held liable for any costs. However, the Government considers this to be a high threshold to meet.

Freedom of Information

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 30 July 2012, Official Report, column 1090W, on freedom of information, for what reason the Taser statistics for March 2010 to December 2011 have not been published.

Damian Green: holding answer 24 October 2012
	Data capture issues have taken slightly longer to resolve. It remains our intention to publish the police use of Taser statistics this autumn.

Immigration: Leicester

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people in Leicester given leave to remain in the UK had to wait longer than the 28 day transition period to receive their benefits and other entitlements in each of the last 12 months.

Mark Hoban: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.
	The information requested is not collated centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Police and Crime Commissioners

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the level of awareness of the Police and Crime Commissioner elections (a) prior to her recent advertising campaign and (b) since her advertising campaign.

Damian Green: The level of awareness of Police and Crime Commissioner elections is being monitored by the Home Office via independent research, conducted pre and post the campaign. As the advertising campaign only ended on 24 October awareness figures are not yet available.

Police and Crime Commissioners

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much is being spent on the production of English-language only ballot papers in Wales for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

Damian Green: holding answer 26 October 2012
	The Home Office has agreed to meet the costs of any reasonable contingency measures that returning officers in Wales take. We expect the printing of additional ballot papers or notices to cost no more than £350,000. As previously stated, we do not expect the election, to cost more than £75 million and these additional costs can be met from within this figure.

Art Works

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if she will consider putting on public display in Kettering in 2013 Sir Alfred East's painting After Turner, Venice, fog blowing up from the Adriatic, which is held in the Government Art Collection.

Edward Vaizey: The Government Art Collection would be happy to consider lending its watercolour by Alfred East, “After Turner: Venice, Fog Blowing up from the Adriatic” to a public display in Kettering in 2013, and looks forward to receiving a request for the loan providing more details about the proposed exhibition.

Broadcasting Reception

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2012, Official Report, column 21W, on broadcasting reception, who owns the UK Planning Model; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 23 October 2012
	This is a matter for Ofcom, the independent broadcasting regulator. Accordingly, my officials spoke to Ofcom, who advised that the UK planning model is defined by the Joint Planning Project (JPP) (chaired by Ofcom) with input from each of the core JPP members (the BBC, Arqiva and Ofcom). The implementation of the model (i.e. how it is used to calculate coverage predictions etc.) is owned by the organisations who developed the software, the BBC and Arqiva, who each have their own version.

HMS Victory

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what discussions she has had on steps to ensure that the remains of HMS Victory discovered in 2008 are protected under the Annex to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: the British Government has adopted the Annex of the Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage as best practice for marine archaeology but we do not believe that the case for ratification of the convention by the UK has been made. This position will continue to be kept under review.

Libraries

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what her policy is on whether volunteer-run libraries will be subject to the statutory public library service requirements; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, sets out the statutory duty for all local authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service, set in the context of local need and available resources. Depending on the individual facts of a case, it is possible for a community-managed or community-supported library to form part of a library authority's statutory provision; or alternatively, for them to sit outside of an authority's statutory provision. Libraries have always been funded and run by local authorities, and it is right, therefore, that local authorities should have the flexibility to consider how to discharge their duties under the 1964 Act.

Marriage: Civil Partnerships

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether consideration was given to requiring respondents to her Department's Equal Civil marriage consultation who used its online survey facility to supply their name, address, email address and any other identifying information that might help prevent individuals making fraudulent multiple submissions.

Helen Grant: Protections were put in place to ensure that multiple submissions from individual computers were not possible, however we cannot prevent people making multiple submissions from different computers, or via other methods, such as e-mail The online response facility accompanying the consultation on equal civil marriage did not ask participants to provide information regarding their identity. This is in line with other consultations run by the Home Office.
	The Government's response, which will be published by the end of the year, will take all responses submitted to this consultation into account, and will be based on a careful consideration of the points made in consultation responses, not simply weighing the number of responses received.

Marriage: Civil Partnerships

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether the signatures, names and addresses of 500,000 supporters of the current law on marriage which were supplied by the Coalition for Marriage in response to her Department's Equal Civil Marriage consultation have been treated as separate responses to the consultation for the purposes of statistical analysis; and on what grounds the decision on whether to so treat them was taken.

Helen Grant: We are grateful to everyone who responded to the consultation, including the Coalition for Marriage.
	All responses received during the consultation on equal civil marriage are being taken into account, regardless of the format they were received in. This includes all petitions. The analysis of these responses is currently underway and the Government will publish its response by the end of the year.

Marriage: Civil Partnerships

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how many responses were received to her Department's Equal Civil Marriage consultation; how many of those were submitted (a) by email, (b) by post, (c) through the online survey; in each such category, how many were received from IP, e-mail and other addresses outside the UK; and how many of the responses were anonymous.

Helen Grant: The consultation on equal civil marriage received over 228,000 responses, and a number of large petitions. The analysis of those responses, including detail on how they were received, is still underway. The Government will publish its response by the end of the year which will include details of the responses received.

Public Lending Right

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport when she expects her Department to announce its decision on the Public Lending Right Office following the consultation on proposals to transfer public lending rights funding and functions.

Edward Vaizey: The Government's response to the Public Lending Right consultation will be published alongside a final impact assessment in due course. A summary of the consultation responses is available on the Department's website, at the following link:
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/consultations/9444.aspx

Sports: Disadvantaged

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if she will provide funding for tickets to professional football and cricket matches for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds; and if she will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: The governing bodies of football and cricket already work with local schools, community groups and a number of charities covering a range of disadvantaged groups providing free and concessionary tickets for international, and club matches. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and Minister for Women and Equalities, my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Maria Miller), will discuss with the governing bodies of football and cricket, the matter of what more can be done.

Tourism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport how much the Government spent on (a) marketing Britain overseas and (b) marketing England in the UK in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012; and what the likely level of such spending will be in each of the next four years.

Hugh Robertson: The British Tourist Authority (BTA), VisitBritain and VisitEngland, disclose expenditure on the promotion of Britain internationally, and England domestically and internationally, within its annual reports. A full breakdown of expenditure for 2010-11 and 2011-12, can be found at note 14, and for 2009-10, at note 13, within the annual reports at this link;
	http://www.visitbritain.org/aboutus/corporatepublications/
	The following table provides VisitBritain and VisitEngland's total marketing spend, as well as marketing and global network operational costs.
	
		
			 £000 
			  Marketing Britain overseas Marketing England domestic 
			 Net spend (actual) 2009-10 26,349 0 
			 Net spend (actual) 2010-11 21,516 5,994 
			 Net spend (actual) 2011-12 28,689 7,550 
			 DCMS grant in aid allocation (budget) 2012-13 31,300 8,224 
			 DCMS GIA allocation (forecast allocation) 2013-14 18,300 7,471 
			 DCMS GIA allocation (forecast Allocation) 2014-15 16,600 4,832 
		
	
	In 2011-12, GIA funding included £11.129 million, and in 2012-13, £15.58 million for supplementary expenditure, such as the GREAT campaign. GREAT funding for 2013-14 has not yet been finalised, and therefore, the total GIA allocation for this year is subject to change.
	VisitEngland spend does not include the Regional Growth Fund.

Tourism: Devon

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if she will estimate the number of tourists who visited (a) Devon and (b) Newton Abbot constituency in the latest year for which figures are available.

Hugh Robertson: The Department does not record this information. However, VisitEngland's Great Britain Tourism Survey for 2009-11 reports that Devon attracted an average of 5,166,000 domestic visits annually:
	http://www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics/major-tourism-surveys/overnightvisitors/Index/Regional_Results_2011.aspx
	Details of visits are not collated at constituency level.
	Through the International Passenger Survey, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) record the number of visits to the UK made by overseas residents. In 2011, the ONS recorded that 425,000 visits were made to, and 3,721,000 nights were spent in, Devon by overseas residents. The ONS do not collate this information at constituency level.

Abortion

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has (a) commissioned or (b) evaluated any recent research on the gestational time limits for abortion set out in the Abortion Act 1967.

Anna Soubry: The Department has not commissioned any recent research specifically on the gestational time limits for abortion set out in the Abortion Act 1967. The Department does keep the international evidence under review. Recent data published by the Office for National Statistics on 10 October 2012 “Gestation-Specific infant mortality in England and Wales, 2010”, a copy of which has been placed in the Library, found that 0.1% of live births occurred at less than 24 weeks and the mortality rates for these babies was 877.3 deaths per 1,000 live births. Also that there has been little change in the distribution of mortality rates by gestational age since 2006.

Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the proton radiotherapy machine to be installed at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, how much money the Government plans to lend the hospital to purchase that equipment; at what interest rate the loan will be made; and over how many years the hospital will repay that loan.

Anna Soubry: The Government has committed to make up to £125 million in capital available to the Christie NHS Foundation Trust for both the building and equipment needed for a proton beam therapy facility. The arrangements by which this funding will be made available remain under discussion between the Department and the trust and are still to be finalised and signed off by all parties.

Friarage Hospital

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with (a) his Ministerial colleagues, (b) local authorities, (c) trade unions and (d) other stakeholders about the possibility of referring changes in service provision at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.

Anna Soubry: There have been no discussions between the Department's Ministers and other ministerial colleagues, local authorities, trade unions or other stakeholders about the possibility of referring changes in service provision at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton to the Secretary of State for Health, who may then decide to seek initial advice from the Independent Reconfiguration Panel.

Medicine: Education

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many UK educational establishments offered courses in medicine suitable for entry into the NHS in each academic year since 1997-98; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The number of educational establishments offering courses in medicine suitable for entry into the national health service in each academic year since 1997-98 is;
	
		
			 Academic year Number of UK educational establishments offering courses in medicine 
			 1998 24 
			 1999 24 
			 2000 24 
			 2001 24 
			 2002 24 
			 2003 28 
			 2004 28 
			 2005 28 
			 2006 30 
			 2007 31 
			 2008 31 
			 2009 32 
			 2010 32 
			 2011 32

Medicine: Education

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many students enrolled on medical courses providing an education suitable for employment in the NHS in each academic year since 1997-98; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The number of students enrolling on medical courses providing an education suitable for employment in the national health service in each academic year since 1997-98 in the United Kingdom is;
	
		
			 Academic year Intake 
			 1997-98 5,062 
			 1998-99 5,069 
			 1999-2000 5,302 
			 2000-01 5,601 
			 2001-02 6,113 
			 2002-03 6,752 
			 2003-04 7,544 
			 2004-05 7,885 
			 2005-06 7,914 
			 2006-07 7,987 
			 2007-08 7,899 
			 2008-09 8,111 
			 2009-10 8,085 
			 2010-11 8,009 
			 2011-12 8,035 
		
	
	The Department and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) share responsibility for determining the medical and dental school undergraduate intakes in England.
	To discharge this responsibility, they periodically, jointly, review the numbers. In 2011, HEFCE and the Department agreed it was an opportune time for a further review of the numbers of medical and dental school places required in the future. The conclusions of this review are expected shortly.

Older People: Loneliness

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of people aged over 65 who suffer from extreme loneliness;
	(2)  what plans the Government has to tackle loneliness among older generations.

Norman Lamb: The information requested is not collected. However, the Campaign to End Loneliness has estimated that there are over a million people over the age of 65 reported feeling lonely.
	On 15 March 2012, the Department co-hosted a summit on loneliness which saw charities, businesses, hon. Members and public sector organisations come together to start a discussion about loneliness and isolation in older age and how it could best be tackled. The Department also commissioned and funded work on a ‘digital toolkit’ for Health and Well-being Boards to support local councils and the national health service to take action to address the issue of loneliness in their area which was launched on 10 July 2012.
	In addition, in 2013-14, the Department plans to include shared measures of well-being across both the Public Health and Adult Social Care Outcome Frameworks with a focus on developing suitable measures of social isolation.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget is for the University Hospitals Morecambe Bay NHS Trust in 2012-13; and what its budget is in each of the next three years.

Daniel Poulter: The Department cannot provide the information requested. The Department currently allocates funding to primary care trusts (PCTs) and not to individual NHS foundation trusts (FTs). A national weighted capitation formula is used which determines each PCT's target share of available resources to enable them to commission services to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations.
	The current formula calculates each PCT's target share of available resources based on the age distribution of the population, additional need over and above that accounted for by age, which includes factors such as deprivation, and unavoidable geographical variations in the cost of providing services (the market forces factor).
	The NHS Commissioning Board is responsible for the allocation of resources to clinical commissioning groups for 2013-14, which are to be announced by the end of the year. In addition, the Department will allocate a ring-fenced grant to upper tier and unitary local authorities for their future public health responsibilities.
	The financial resources data requested at Trust level can be obtained directly from University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS FT.

Budget Scrutiny

Edward Leigh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish the report prepared for him by the hon. Members for Southport and Gainsborough, Improving Financial Scrutiny of the Budget Process by the House.

Danny Alexander: The hon. Member for Southport (John Pugh) and the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr Leigh), provided to the Chancellor their independent report on improving parliamentary scrutiny of Government expenditure. Most of the recommendations contained in their report fall to Parliament. Hence it would not be appropriate for the Government to publish the report.

Child Benefit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the number of people paying income tax at the higher rate in each parliamentary constituency in receipt of child benefit payments; how much his Department plans to spend in writing to such taxpayers to inform them of changes in child benefit; and when such letters will be sent.

David Gauke: The Government has made no recent estimate of the number of persons paying income tax at the higher rate in each parliamentary constituency in receipt of child benefit payments. The number of households in 2013-14 with a higher rate taxpayer, receiving child benefit was forecast to be 1.5 million. This information was provided in response to parliamentary question number 20842 on 23 November 2010, Official Report, column 267W:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101123/text/101123w0004.htm#/text/10112362000768
	Estimates broken down by parliamentary constituency are not available due to sample size.
	The estimated costs for customer information for the High Income Child Benefit Charge were published in the Tax Information and Impact Note at Budget 2012:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2012/tiin-0620.pdf
	HMRC will send letters to taxpayers who are affected and these letters will start to be sent during the week commencing 29 October 2012.

Child Benefit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the number of people in receipt of child benefit who will begin to pay income tax at the higher rate (a) in 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14; and what steps his Department is taking to alert such taxpayers to the change in policy on the payment of child benefit.

David Gauke: The Government has made no recent estimate of the number of persons in receipt of child benefit who begin to pay income tax at the higher rate (a) in 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.
	The number of households in 2013-14 with a higher rate taxpayer, receiving child benefit was forecast to be 1.5 million. This information was provided in response to parliamentary question number 20842 on 23 November 2010, Official Report, column 267W:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101123/text/101123w0004.htm#10112362000768
	The Government will be writing to taxpayers it believes will be affected by the High Income Child benefit Charge.

Corporation Tax

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to ensure that multinational or foreign-owned companies trading in the UK pay a fair and reasonable amount of corporation tax.

David Gauke: The Government is alert to the risk that some companies may try to structure their affairs so that profits from UK-based economic activity are not taxed here. The UK system of taxing multinational business is based on internationally agreed principles that determine how much profit each country should tax. The UK works closely with other jurisdictions to share information and ensure a more effective approach to cross-border tax avoidance. The UK has specific tax rules to combat tax avoidance by international companies and supports international action on base erosion and profit-shifting, which has been endorsed by the G20.

Revenue and Customs

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what role Atos plays in delivering HM Revenue and Customs' capabilities policy; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: In keeping with all good employers, HMRC has a comprehensive policy to support the capability of individuals to carry out. their job roles and responsibilities.
	HMRC's occupational health advisory services are provided by Atos Healthcare.
	Atos provide advice to managers regarding the impact of employees' health conditions on their ability to attend work, including advice on reasonable periods of absence related to their health and background, and any reasonable adjustments that should be considered.
	The Atos support ensures that managers have access to qualified guidance to enable them to progress capability issues related to employees' health conditions.

Revenue and Customs: Correspondence

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will take steps to ensure that HM Revenue and Customs responds to the requests of Mr John Echlin, a constituent of the hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington, and provides him with R40 Tax repayment forms for (a) 2011-12, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2009-10 and (d) 2008-09.

David Gauke: If the right hon. Member would like to write to me with the constituent's details, including national insurance number, I will gladly look into the matter. For information, R40 forms are available on HMRC's website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/r40intro.htm

Tax Avoidance

David Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set up a review to assess the merits of setting up a tax avoidance system wherein all such schemes would be illegal without prior agreement by his Department.

David Gauke: The vast majority of people and businesses in the UK do not try to avoid their tax and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is very successful at tackling the small minority who do. HMRC is able to deploy a range of approaches to prevent, detect and counteract tax avoidance—and the Government is looking to strengthen its hand further by, for example, enhancing the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes rules and developing the UK's first general anti-abuse rule (GAAR). Once introduced, the GAAR will act as a powerful deterrent to those engaging in abusive avoidance schemes. Where such schemes persist, it will also improve HMRC's means of tackling them effectively.

Tax Evasion

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to reduce the amount of individual high-value tax evasion; and how many officials in his Department were tasked with this in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

David Gauke: This Government is determined to tackle tax evasion of all kinds and ensure that the tax system operates fairly and efficiently for all. As part of the 2010 spending review settlement we announced that over £900 million would be made available to HMRC to step up their activity in tackling tax loss. This includes putting extra resource into tackling both avoidance and evasion, including high-value tax evasion. This reinvestment is funding a range of measures which will enable HMRC to bring in around £7 billion each year by 2014-15 in additional revenues.
	Within HM Revenue and Customs, compliance work against individual high-value tax evasion is primarily carried out by staff in the Enforcement and Compliance (E&C) line of business. A breakdown of the number of E&C officers engaged in tackling high-value tax evasion is available only at a disproportionate cost.

VAT: Boilers

Gordon Banks: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will reduce VAT to five per cent on A rated boilers, A and B rated windows and passive flue gas technologies installed by Green Deal-accredited installers to encourage homeowners and landlords to make energy efficiency improvements under the Green Deal programme.

Sajid Javid: holding answer 26 October 2012
	The Government has no plans to introduce a reduced rate for the installation of windows, boilers or passive flue gas technologies.
	The Chancellor announced in the 29 November 2011 autumn statement, Official Report, columns 799-810, £200 million additional capital to encourage early uptake of the Green Deal. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced, in September 2012, the first £12 million of this funding will be allocated to seven cities across England to help pilot Green Deal in their regions. Further to this in October 2012, DECC has announced that £125 million of this funding will be allocated to the Green Deal Cashback Scheme, which can be claimed by those who take up Green Deal from January 2013.

Business: Billing

Naomi Long: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  if he will respond to the findings of the British Chamber of Commerce's Supply Chains report;
	(2)  if he will review the recommendation of the British Chamber of Commerce's Supply Chains report to introduce a kitemark scheme to promote prompt payments by businesses.

Michael Fallon: The Government welcomes the British Chamber of Commerce's (BCCs) Supply Chains report and recommendations which highlight the continued problem of late payment and the need for action by businesses, Government and the banks.
	As the BCC report highlights, access to affordable finance is vital for small and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). The Government is taking the firsts steps towards the creation of a Government-backed business bank which will receive £1 billion of new Government funding and will aim to address long-standing, structural gaps in the supply of finance to businesses. The Government is also helping SMEs access affordable working capital through the Prime Minister's Supply Chain Finance Partnership with many of the largest UK businesses, and through the £100 million small business tranche of the Business Finance Partnership.
	We have also been working with business representatives including the BCC and other stakeholders on a variety of ways to help businesses manage cash flow and transform the culture of late payment, including through more efficient payment processes. We agree with the BCC that more can be done to foster good practice in business to business relations. We believe that the Prompt Payment Code is currently the most appropriate vehicle to do this, and our aim is that it should be the norm for businesses to sign up to the code.

Business: Loans

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many regional outreach events have been held as part of the Business Finance Taskforce pledges of October 2010; and where and on what dates such events took place.

Michael Fallon: holding answer 26 October 2012
	The Business Finance Taskforce banks created the Better Business Finance website to deliver the advice and support committed these banks committed to in the Taskforce pledges. In 2011, 15 ‘Better Business Finance’ outreach events were held in cities including Edinburgh, Belfast, Norwich and Bristol.
	In 2012, in association with the British Chambers of Commerce, Better Business Finance, are hosting a number of roundtable events, with 10 dates and locations confirmed to date.
	Better Business Finance also worked with the ICAEW to stage Business Advice Week from the 25-29 June 2012, and are working with Members of Parliament to provide constituency surgeries to promote mentoring.
	The dates and locations of these events are publicised at:
	www.betterbusinessfinance.co.uk

Business: Loans

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by what mechanism his Department is monitoring the 17 commitments made under the Business Finance Taskforce.

Michael Fallon: I work closely with the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Greg Clark), the lead Minister for the Taskforce and other colleagues at Her Majesty's Treasury in monitoring the banks' performance against the taskforce commitments.
	The Business Finance Taskforce and other issues around SME finance are also regularly discussed at each quarterly meeting of the Small Business Economic Forum, which I chair. The Forum includes the British Bankers Association, the Taskforce banks and the business representative bodies. It met most recently on 24 October 2012, when the British Bankers Association (BBA) outlined their approach to an interim review of the Taskforce. I also met with Anthony Browne as chief executive of the BBA to discuss this and other issues earlier this month.

Electric Cables: Imports

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans the Government has to strengthen measures preventing the importation of counterfeit and falsely marked electrical cabling.

Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 October 2012, Official Report, columns 887-88W, to the hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson).

Graduates: Employment

Tony Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans the Government has to help graduates into employment.

David Willetts: University remains a great route to a rewarding career: 90% of full-time, first degree leavers are in work or further study six months after graduating, and graduates earn on average £100,000 more over their working lives.
	Government, universities, business, and students themselves, all have a part to play in ensuring that graduates are well prepared for the labour market. To promote greater business-university collaboration, we are supporting the new National Centre for Universities and Business. The centre will cover all aspects of HE-business working—graduate recruitment, work experience, skills, research, knowledge exchange and innovation.
	We are also encouraging the take-up of sandwich placement years by capping tuition fees for students undertaking them, and are working with partners to raise awareness of the Higher Education Achievement Record as part of a wider project to improve graduate recruitment practice. We have recently announced a further three years' funding for the Graduate Talent Pool website to encourage more employers to provide graduate internships:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/graduates

Common Agricultural Policy

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with Ministers responsible for agriculture in the devolved administrations regarding the review the Common Agricultural Policy.

David Heath: I have spoken to the Scottish Agricultural Minister, and I have spoken to and met the Welsh Agricultural Minister and listened to their views on a range of matters including the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the right hon. Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), met Scottish and Welsh Ministers at the September Agriculture Council and I plan to meet them again along with the Northern Ireland Minister in November. I remain fully committed to ensuring that the UK negotiates with the Commission, European Parliament and other member states so that we receive the necessary flexibility within the current proposals to ensure that implementation can reflect the agronomic and ecological diversity of the different parts of the UK.

Common Land

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to provide a response to his consultation on the registration of town and village greens.

Richard Benyon: After considering the responses to this consultation carefully, the Government has proposed reforms to the law for registering new town and village greens, which have been published in the Growth and Infrastructure Bill. The reforms comprise:
	Preventing town or village green (TVG) applications where a planning permission has been granted or where a planning application has been publicised and the decision is still to be made.
	Preventing TVG applications for land 'identified for potential development' in local and neighbourhood plans, including draft plans.
	Allowing landowners to make a statement with the effect that their land cannot be registered as a TVG.
	Improving the flexibility we have to set fees for TVG applications.
	The summary of responses to the consultation will be published soon.

Marine Environment: Research

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date he plans the draft assessment from the Marine Research Vessels Group will be completed; and if he will place a copy of the assessment in the Library.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 25 October 2012
	The assessment of the Marine Research Vessel Group is expected to be completed by spring 2013. A copy of the assessment will be made publicly available on the Marine Science Co- ordination Committee website as well as in the House Library.

Teachers: Training

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many applications were (a) received and (b) accepted for the (i) Teach First and (ii) Troops for Teachers programme in (A) 2010 and (B) 2011.

David Laws: Since the announcement of the Troops to Teachers programme, we have focused on increasing the number of service leavers undertaking initial teacher training (ITT). The Department began recording the number of service leavers applying for ITT courses from March 2011. Between 1 March 2011 to the end of August 2011, 27 service leavers applied for ITT courses, of which 21(1) were accepted.
	This year we allocated an additional 50 places on the Graduate Teacher Programme, which will be available to service leavers exclusively. We plan to allocate further places on an annual basis.
	Troops to teachers feeds into the Military Skills and Ethos in Schools project, which aims to bring together the work that is dispersed throughout the Department in this area.
	Teach First received 3,082 applications in 2010, of which 560 were accepted onto the programme and 5,324 in 2011, of which 772(2) were accepted onto the programme. The 2012 application round has not been finalised; however, Teach First has confirmed receipt of 7,113 applications for 1,000 places.
	(1) Data Teaching Agency May 2012
	(2 )Data Teach First May 2012